Collaborating for a Sustainable Future, Thoughts from Smurfit Westrock's VP of Sustainability

From September 22nd to the 29th, climate-committed doers and thinkers from around the world gathered in New York City for Climate Week, with one of the premiere events hosted by The Nest Climate Campus. Here, they had the chance to engage meaningfully with the topic of sustainability, and to highlight actionable solutions, programs and policies supporting the climate crisis. ?

Smurfit Westrock was proud to participate in the event and to work with exceptional thought leaders across many industries to address how we can make packaging more sustainable. On September 24, our VP of Sustainability, Chris Davidson, participated in a panel discussion with sustainability leaders from EcoLab, Diageo and PJT Partners to discuss how suppliers and customers can work together to drive growth and achieve sustainability goals.?

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Meet Chris Davidson?

As part of the team that develops strategy, policies, goals and metrics for Smurfit Westrock’s sustainability platform, Chris Davidson works with customers and non-governmental organizations around the world to focus on optimizing the impact of environmental and social sustainability on business and communities. ?

Chris’ experience in the forest products industry spans nearly 30 years. He serves on the board of directors for GreenBlue and the Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. He is also the co-chair of the Corporate Sustainability & Environment Executive Committee of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.??

The benefits of strategic partnerships in sustainability?

The panel began with introductions and with each panel member providing some initial thoughts on the benefits of strategic partnerships. At Smurfit Westrock, we believe that protecting the environment is not only the right thing to do – it's also integral to our business, and to the business of our customers and their customers. To better the planet, we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and waste while building on our legacy of sustainable forestry, recycling and innovative product development. Partnerships with customers drive innovation and help us create effective and scalable solutions to some of the world’s most complex packaging challenges. ?

We’re proud of the work we’ve done with some of the biggest names in pizza to spread the word about pizza box recycling with our Scan.Learn.Recycle.? program. We’ve also partnered with e-commerce brands like The House of Botanique to develop solutions tailored to their needs and with academic institutions like the University of Florida to imagine new solutions to long-standing problems.?

The benefits of sustainable partnerships run both ways. Diageo is one of Smurfit Westrock’s customers, while EcoLab is both a supplier and a customer. For suppliers like us, collaborations provide access to new insights and help us gain a deeper understanding of different packaging needs and challenges faced across industries. Our partners benefit from access to cutting-edge technologies, specialized expertise and differentiated product offerings that streamline processes and meet many customer needs.?

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Addressing challenges?

One of the greatest challenges faced by Smurfit Westrock is meeting the diverse objectives of our customers sustainably. We ask customers to bring us their biggest packaging challenges, and we tackle those challenges by fostering open communication so that we can tailor our efforts according to their needs and goals. With one of the largest portfolios of solutions in corrugated and consumer packaging, Smurfit Westrock offers a distinct advantage to customers looking to increase their sustainability.?

Another challenge of partnering effectively is measuring success and ensuring transparency. It’s important to measure success through two lenses – sustainability and business growth. Setting baseline metrics like waste reduction, recyclability, emissions reduction and our contribution to the circular economy is critical to measuring the success of a partnership down the line, as is conducting regular audits and review sessions.?

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Creating shared value sustainably?

Chris and the other panelists also emphasized how delivering a positive environmental impact and enhancing long-term profitability is critical to a successful partnership. This leads to an approach that’s both market and data driven, leveraging proven insights from many different supply chains and customers across the world. By using renewable, recyclable and recycled materials, we can provide sustainable solutions to each market meant to help our customers succeed in a dynamic world. ??

Through this work and with the strength of our approximately 100,000 employees around the world, we can accomplish our goal of advancing the circular economy and creating a more sustainable future.?

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Stepping into the future?

Strategic partnerships in sustainability are key to creating better businesses and a more sustainable and resilient economy, helping us achieve our goal of decarbonizing the supply chain. ?We’re excited by the discussions spurred on at Climate Week, and the steps we’re all taking to nurture a greener and bluer world.?