Why is Sonoco excellent in Sustainability

Good Practice Example Sonoco Builds a Reputation of Excellence in Sustainability Recognizing the growing importance of sustainability, Sonoco, a global leader in sustainable packaging, has established a Corporate Sustainability Council, reporting directly to Harris De- Loach, Jr., the chairman, president, and chief executive officer, who describes the substance of Sonoco's strategic intent in this way: "By balancing and integrating environmental stew ardship, social responsibility and economic performance within our business strategy and culture, Sonoco is becoming more competitive and better prepared to meet the challenges of the future." According to the company's 2009 Sustainability Annual Report, "The purpose of the Soneco Corporate Sustainability Council is to provide oversight guidance and direction on social, community and environmental issues that have potential impact on the reputation and long-term economic viability of the Company and our stakeholders." The Sonoco approach can best be described as a triple bottom line approach, consisting of a company's economic, environmental and social performance. The Sustainability Council, chaired by a senior vice president and consisting of nine additional vice presidents and directors, provides periodic sustainability performance reports to the company's board of directors. These reports provide information about Sonaco's progress toward its corporate goals in environmental, social, and economic performance Some of the initiatives that Sonoco has undertaken include reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, energy usage, air emissions, water consumption, and waste in landfills. In setting up its sustain- ability program, Sonoco used 2008 as a base year. For example, the company has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent through 2013. In addition, the company seeks to reduce energy usage at several of its recycled paperboard mills through increased capital in- vestment. Also underway is the conversion of process steam production to include renewable and/ or lower carbon-intensive fuel sources. It has extended its domestic North American sustainability goals to include its foreign manufacturing operations as well In recognition of Soneco's ongoing sustainability efforts, it was named #27 on Corporate Respon- sibility Office magazine's 2009 "100 Best Corporate Citizens list. This list included only one other packaging manufacturing company. It has also been included on the Dow lones Sustainability World Index that tracks world-class corporations in their sustainability efforts, one of only three packaging companies so designated. As a supplier, Sonco has directed its packaging designers, engineers, and material scien- tists to address its customers' performance, cost, and sustainability requirements as well. To achieve these ends, it has developed a proprietary sustainability packaging design software program intended to improve product recyclability by reducing packaging weight, eliminating materials, reducing packaging structure thickness, and simplifying package designs. Sonoco has also worked closely with its customer base to improve their package recovery and recy. clability processes, as well as to reduce the generation of landfill waste from their manufac- turing, distribution, and retail facilities. It has also achieved ISO 14001 certification at several of its European facilities. Corporate spending with women and minority-owned suppliers in- creased 14 percent in 2009