Sonoco Awarded Gold EcoVadis Medal

DS Smith has announced it has been granted funding from Hubbub’s #TheCupFund initiative, the UK’s largest grant fund to support ambitious projects that boost paper cup recycling across the UK. DS Smith’s Coffee Cup Drop Box is the only national scheme to have been chosen as part of the initiative. The grant will support the roll-out of DS Smith’s specially designed Coffee Cup Drop Box scheme, in partnership with Associated Vending Services (AVS). Each box holds around 700 cups and once full is collected by Royal Mail and returned to DS Smith’s paper mill in Kemsley, the UK’s largest, to be recycled back into new paper packaging products. As part of the development of the Coffee Cup Drop box DS Smith partnered with AVS to trial the service with its members. AVS members operate tens of thousands of vending machines at locations throughout the UK.

Tronox Holdings plc has received a Platinum Rating by EcoVadis in recognition of its sustainability efforts. The Platinum Rating puts Tronox in the top one percent of companies evaluated and represents a significant improvement over its Silver Rating in 2019 and 2020. The step change in Tronox’s 2021 EcoVadis rating reflects how deeply embedded sustainability and corporate social responsibility have become in its business practices and the advancements Tronox has made in its public disclosure on these topics. The EcoVadis assessment focuses on four themes: the environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. Tronox achieved a 10-point increase in all categories, and a 20-point increase in the environmental category. “In the past 18 months, we have taken a number of significant steps that demonstrate our commitment to sustainability, including publicly announcing our plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental targets, aligning with Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) reporting, becoming a member of the UN Global Compact, and creating and implementing new compliance and environmental policies,” said Melissa Zona, Tronox’s Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer. “This accomplishment also reflects the importance of sustainability to our employees, who remain focused on operating our business responsibly for our customers, communities and future generations.”

Sustainability lies at the center of Huhtamaki’s 2030 Strategy and the Company is making a leap forward towards delivering on its ambitions by closing two 10-year virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs) with BayWa r.e., a global renewable energy developer. The 200 GWh agreements cover approximately 80% of Huhtamaki’s current electricity usage in Europe, where the key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions has 18 manufacturing sites in 10 countries. ”We are committed to our ambitious 2030 strategy to become the first choice in sustainable packaging solutions. This means developing a circular approach for our operations and products. We are fully committed to supporting the transition to a zero-carbon economy and have a climate strategy with clear targets and action plans to address all our emissions. Renewable electricity plays a major role in delivering on our ambitions and the agreement we have just signed with BayWa r.e. demonstrates that it is possible to achieve significant progress in a short time,” says Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of Huhtamaki.