MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Leading manufacturer of paper-based packaging, Smurfit Kappa, has reinforced its commitment to corporate social responsibility and the community by announcing its membership of Business In the Community (BITC) UK. An extension of the Smurfit Kappa Group’s membership of BITC Ireland since 2007, this latest affiliation is further evidence of the Group’s overall commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Business in the Community (BITC) UK – a sister organisation of BITC Ireland – is a business-led, not-for-profit Prince’s Charity that works locally, nationally and internationally through a network of worldwide business partners to advise, support and challenge members to create a sustainable future for people and the planet, as well as improving business performance. Smurfit Kappa joins a number of pioneering organisations in its accreditation to the BITC including Diageo, Microsoft, Tesco and Unilever.
Smurfit Kappa’s engagement with the local communities in which it works, identifies it as a leader in the field of corporate social responsibility and one of the UK’s key environmental innovators in packaging manufacturing. The company has a long-established reputation for its integrated approach to Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability, supporting a number of community charitable and educational initiatives.
The ‘Be part of Birmingham’s Paper Chain’ campaign was a partnership project between WRAP (Waste and Recycling Action Programme), Birmingham City Council and Smurfit Kappa Recycling, which was designed to promote and educate the community about the recycling of paper as well as encourage social inclusion, as it targeted communities with very low recycling rates. This campaign joined the public, private sector, local authority and a government funded body together in the partnership and won "The best information and education" award at the 2011 European Recovered Paper Council Awards in Brussels.
Charity projects such as Smurfit Kappa West Auckland’s family fun day and Smurfit Kappa Weston-Super-Mare’s Foodbank initiative, also demonstrate Smurfit Kappa and its employees’ continued concern for community development as well as that of the environment and wider sustainability related issues.
Recently, Smurfit Kappa Weston-super-Mare teamed up with the charity run Foodbank programme, providing 500 branded boxes to package donations collected locally and distributed to families in crisis in the surrounding community.
Stephen Howard, CEO of Business in the Community comments: "The sustained commitment of companies to greater leadership in the field of responsible business has never been more important. That’s why we’re here, to help companies identify where they can have most impact – positively – for people and the planet."
Monika Maciejewska, Sustainability Manager for Smurfit Kappa Paper UK adds "We are very proud to announce our UK membership to Business in the Community and look forward to working with them on a number of upcoming projects for the benefit of the wider communities in which we work. Smurfit Kappa is continually committed to responsible business practice and encourages a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees and communities, and will endeavour to strengthen this commitment through our involvement with BITC and its International partners."
Additional previous accolades – including Coca-Cola Enterprises’ 2010 Supplier Award for ‘Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Supplier’ and Unilever Partner to Win, 2011 supplier awards in the ‘Winning through Sustainability’ category – further reinforce Smurfit Kappa’s leadership in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility.
