Smurfit Kappa, one of the world’s leading paper-based packaging firms, has acquired the Russian corrugated packaging company, Soyuz, reinforcing its position in the region.

Smurfit Kappa has today announced new targets to further reduce its fossil CO2 emissions, including its ambition to reach at least net zero emissions by 2050. It has also increased its existing intermediate 2030 CO2 reduction target by 15 percentage points to 55%, in comparison to the 2005 baseline. The company will have these targets validated by the Science Based Target initiative as being in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Smurfit Kappa has been a market leader in sustainability since 2005. Before today’s announcement, the company had already achieved a reduction in CO2 emission intensity of 32.9% on its 2030 target of a 40% reduction. This impressive achievement has resulted from the successful implementation of key projects that form part of the company’s medium-term strategic plan. One such project was the installation of an industry-leading recovery boiler at the company’s Nettingsdorf Paper Mill in Austria which began operating in June of this year. The new boiler is set to cut CO2 emissions by an additional 40,000 tonnes, which translates into an additional 1.5% reduction in CO2 emissions across the business.

The Board of Smurfit Kappa (the “Board”) announces that it received a revised proposal (the “Revised Proposal”) from International Paper Company (“International Paper”) on Thursday evening, 22 March 2018. Under the terms of the Revised Proposal, Smurfit Kappa shareholders would receive €25.25 in cash (which would be reduced to €24.605 after payment of the final dividend of 64.5 cent recommended on 7 February 2018 and to be paid on 11 May 2018 (the “Final Dividend”)) and 0.3028 new shares of International Paper common stock for each Smurfit Kappa ordinary share held by them.

Finnish startup Fiberwood, a producer of 100% ecological wood fibre insulation and packaging materials made from mechanical wood industry side streams, has raised a late seed funding round. The round was led by Metsä Group’s innovation company Metsä Spring, and the round included public financing from Business Finland. The funding will be used to develop and scale up the production capabilities of its pilot plant as it heads into industrial-level continuous production. Valued at EUR 25 billion, the global insulation market is currently dominated by two groups of products: inorganic mineral wools, such as stone or glass wool, and fossil-based cellular plastic products, like polystyrene. However, these products have more environmental consequences as they are not recyclable or biodegradable. Fiberwood’s bio-based, plastic-free, and compostable insulation sheets are made from wood pulp and side streams from the mechanical wood industry with special foam-forming technology. The insulation sheets include natural traits of trees as well as air pockets that increase the material’s insulation capabilities. The products are carbon negative as they store and bind carbon dioxide to the wood for as long as it exists. The insulation sheets are easy, safe, and quick to install. Once they are ready to be recycled, the insulation sheets will biodegrade into plastic-free soil.