Smurfit Kappa has announced that it has joined Two Sides, a global organisation that promotes the attractiveness and sustainability of paper, as a new member.
The Irish-based corrugated packaging company said that the move came from the increased consumer concern and media scrutiny on packaging and, in particular, single-use plastics.
Misconceptions
Smurfit Kappa highlighted a survey carried out by Two Sides and Toluna, the international research agency, which found that paper and cardboard are the most preferred packaging material for environmental-friendliness.
However, this research also shows that consumers perceive paper and cardboard to cause forest loss and do not understand the industry’s high recycling rates.
“There is increasing pressure on companies to be more sustainable and this is having a transformative effect on the packaging industry,” says Steven Stoffer, Group Vice President Development of Smurfit Kappa.
“Paper-based packaging provides many benefits from protecting the products and preventing waste, to optimising logistics in the supply chain. Most importantly, it’s 100% recyclable and has the least impact on the environment.”
Two Sides
Two Sides provides fact-based information to reassure consumers that paper and cardboard is the sustainable choice. With a recycling rate of 83%, Smurfit Kappa said that paper and cardboard are amongst the most recycled materials in the world.
‘Furthermore,’ the statement continued, ‘between 2005 and 2015 forests in Europe, which provide wood for making paper and packaging materials, grew by 44,000 square kilometres - that’s an area bigger than the size of Switzerland and amounts to over 1,500 football pitches every day.’
Smurfit said that Two Sides has a wealth of resources to explain the sustainability and attractiveness of paper and cardboard packaging, ranging from its website, newsletters, videos, infographics and the new facts booklet which explores seven powerful facts about paper packaging’s positive impact on the environment.
Jonathan Tame, Managing Director of Two Sides, welcomed the Irish company. “We are delighted Smurfit Kappa recognises and values the information Two Sides has created,” he said.
“Together, we can inform consumers and businesses of the great sustainable attributes of paper and cardboard, the natural and renewable choice.”
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
