Sustainability and business growth for North American paper and packaging giants

When Graphic Packaging International released its 2022 ESG report last month, the company claimed to have successfully achieved two of its 2025 sustainability goals ahead of schedule - reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity and non-renewable energy intensity by 15% each. The company has also slightly adjusted its sustainability strategy and submitted new targets to the "Science-Based Targets" initiative for validation, hoping to receive feedback by the end of the year.

Michelle Fitzpatrick is responsible for the company's efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change while executing on its ESG strategy. She joined Graphic Packaging International in 2021 as Chief Sustainability Officer and is the first person to hold the position. A few days ago, Michelle Fitzpatrick was interviewed and discussed GPI's sustainability priorities and evolving strategy.

You've just been GPI's Chief Security Officer for two years, and you're the first to hold the role. Does taking on a newly created role require a different strategy than taking over an established CSO position?

Michelle Fitzpatrick: I think there's a little bit of both. Although I'm new here, and this is the beginning of an era as a Chief Sustainability Officer, I'm not walking into a company that hasn't thought about sustainability at all in the past. GPI has set sustainability goals since 2016, and we're working towards our 2025 goals. The company has been publishing sustainability reports for the past few years, and they've prepared a lot for the project.https://www.risedongsheng.com/

Again, you've only been in this position for two years, but has the sustainability strategy evolved? Is this a dynamic process or a fairly static one, and you're working towards existing goals?

It's definitely evolving. For example, we've started thinking about our climate goals. We're looking at how the external factors around us are changing, how external expectations are changing, and how we can address the parts of this global collective problem that are about us. We're moving from intensity-based goals to setting absolute goals through science-based goal initiatives. I think this is a great example of how we can now step back and see what the external drivers and expectations of companies are.

GPI's 2022 Sustainability Report noted that the company achieved several goals earlier than expected. But there has also been a setback in some areas, at least in part due to business growth. How to balance sustainability and growth, especially in a volatile market?https://www.risedongsheng.com/

Science-based goals are a great example of how to think about how to balance growth and progress. Their role is to help us think about setting emission reduction targets versus intensity targets. The old-school idea is that I can't grow without increasing emissions, which is why there is an intensity target.

When we're thinking about a science-based target and reducing emissions on an absolute scale, it forces us to take a step back and think about new strategies. When we're implementing a capital project, how do we look at the project in terms of using less energy or using greener energy so we can still grow and increase production, but how do we reduce emissions to decouple emissions from growth? It's just a shift in mindset and thinking that can help make this happen.

When we think about doing these things, also with a depressed market in mind, the great thing about sustainability is that it doesn't have to cost more money - that's the prevailing mindset. It actually saves us money. If we use less energy, we actually spend less money on raw materials, which directly affects the bottom line of the business and helps the business increase or protect profits in the down cycle.

At the Pack Expo last month, a GPI representative told me that companies insert sustainability at different stages of the product lifecycle, such as during product design or material sourcing. Describe in more depth what this means and why it is a priority.

It's a priority because it's what consumers want, and it's what our customers want, in order to achieve various sustainability goals and deliver their products in packaging that's more sustainable and doesn't create too much waste. If you ask consumers what the most important attribute of the packaging of the goods they buy is, the answer is that it's made from recycled materials or is recyclable. So we think about how to always ensure that product designs are optimised for recyclability - and that starts at the design stage.

Consideration needs to be given to the treatment carried out on the product, the glue, the resin used in the design of the product and the coating used on the product. All of this helps to improve the recyclability of the product and how much fiber can be recovered when the recycling step is carried out at the end of life. Then, when considering the next stage of the design, we have already discussed this in the manufacturing stage - how can the manufacturing process be optimised for maximum yield while minimising the use of resources so that the production footprint of the product is as minimal as possible and helps to achieve recycling?https://www.risedongsheng.com/

So in the use phase, how can the product be designed so that it meets the required performance expectations? Because when thinking about packaging, what is protected within the packaging has a higher environmental footprint than the packaging itself. It is very important that packaging must play its role to protect the product delivered to customers. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the packaging is fit for purpose and that the product is protected with as little impact and waste as possible.

At the end of our useful life, we always design with recyclability or compostability in mind. Going back to the starting cycle often depends on the raw material chosen. Therefore, we are actively looking for more renewable options to make our packaging as renewable as possible and as recyclable as possible.

Along the lines of procurement, talk about GPI's forestry and biodiversity strategy.

We ensure that all tree fibres purchased for our original plants come from sustainably managed forests, and we do this by participating in sustainable forestry initiatives. In this way, we have very robust due diligence practices and we understand the areas from which wood baskets or our wood supply comes. We understand where sensitive ecosystems exist in these wood baskets and make it clear to our wood suppliers not to source wood from high conservation value areas with high biodiversity areas or other endangered species. We require all loggers and wood suppliers to attend different trainings so that they understand best management practices when harvesting and shipping wood to us.

Then we follow up with inspections as well. We inspect logging activities to make sure they are implementing these practices, that they are protecting the adjacent land they are logging, or that they are not driving through these areas while doing logging. All of this is to make sure they respect the land and nature on the land where we source the wood, and when we receive the wood, we know the wood we are buying is sustainably purchased.https://www.risedongsheng.com/

You mentioned earlier the importance of product recyclability to consumers. Does graphic packaging prioritize its recyclability goals over other SDGs, or are they all on an equal footing?

They are all interrelated. I would say they are equal because a lot of the things we ultimately need to do to optimize the product are determined by the choices we make and some other goals.

GPI is a global company. How to get everyone to agree and participate in your sustainability strategy?

The good news is that new hires in particular want to make sure that the company they work for shares similar goals to their fundamental values. Our employees see this through our leaders' interactions with the board and our board-level commitment - for example, our board supports us in setting science-based goals. Our executive team then shares our commitment with their team during the Global Town Hall. So I think a lot of this comes from engaging, communicating, and aligning with what's important to employees.https://www.risedongsheng.com/