American Forest & Paper Association Releases December 2020 Containerboard Monthly Report

As the war and humanitarian crisis from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue, it is important that we remain connected and well informed as a team. We are witnessing a tragic situation and our hearts go out to the people whose lives have been so terribly affected. We join the urgent call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. At Amcor, we are guided by our values: • Our first focus is the safety of our people in Ukraine; • We recognize that our packaging products help people in communities everywhere with their daily necessities; • Our sense of obligation extends also to the multinational customers we partner with in Ukraine and Russia. Those considerations come together in how we work with our customers: they also take care of their own teams and rely on us to bring products to communities in need. Together we support the livelihoods of many thousands of people along complex supply chains. You will remember we proactively closed our site in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to protect our local team right before the armed conflict started. Our dedicated crisis team continues to monitor developments in real time and assist our people. We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and are actively contributing to the relief efforts. Amcor is committing at least USD1 million for direct support to our team in Kharkiv and their families as well as general humanitarian aid, in partnership with the International Red Cross. This includes a matching contributions program open to all Amcor colleagues around the world. Let’s please keep up the support and a big thank you for all the generous contributions so many of you already made.

Metsä Board, a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards, has partnered with Finnish confectionery maker Kouvolan Lakritsi to create a new, reclosable liquorice mug made of fresh fibre paperboard. Inspired by paperboard cups, Metsä Board’s packaging design team developed the new paperboard mug with a heat-sealed transparent plastic film that keeps the liquorice fresh. Once opened, the reclosable paperboard cover effectively preserves the liquorice. The result is a durable, recyclable container that keeps Kouvolan Lakritsi’s famous liquorice fresh while making a strong visual impression on store shelves. The new packaging also addresses common consumer complaints about traditional plastic sweet pouches, such as easy tearing and stickiness, while reducing the use of plastic.

Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, has again won both the Finnish Circular Economy Award and the Finnish Quality Award in the Excellence Finland assessment. Both the Quality Award and the Circular Economy Award are based on an assessment using the international EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model. Juha Ylä-Autio, CEO of Excellence Finland, stated in their recent press release that the Quality Award recognised the best organisation in Finland that had achieved verifiable excellence in implementing its strategy. In its reasoning, the jury states that Metsä Board's processes for defining direction, implementing strategy, monitoring and reporting performance are appropriate and operate effectively. The organisation is consistently working to further strengthen the themes of sustainability and circular economy in its corporate culture. Metsä Board has also succeeded in developing effective forms of collaboration within its ecosystem. This is also reflected in the company's performance, business results and competitiveness.