Elopak Joins United Nations Global Compact

Elopak has joined the United Nations (UN) Global Compact as a participant as part of its ongoing efforts to work collaboratively with partners to advance sustainability and support delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 70 local networks. It is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals and issues embodied in the SDGs.

Commenting on the announcement Elopak CEO Thomas Körmendi stated, “We are delighted to officially join the UN Global Compact. It is a truly inspiring global initiative with admirable and important objectives that are central to the way we do business at Elopak.”

SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO; IT IS SOMETHING WE ARE
“Sustainability is not something we do; it is something we are. It is incorporated into every aspect of Elopak’s operations, from the development of new systems and materials to the way we source our raw materials. Joining the UN Global Compact is an important public step for us to take. It is one that reflects our deeply held commitment to sustainability, as well as to working collaboratively with others to transform the world through principled business,” Körmendi continued.

Elopak’s sustainability journey has recorded several major advances in recent years. In 2016 Elopak became carbon neutral and in 2018 the company recorded a 70% reduction in its emissions over a ten-year period. In 2019 Elopak became one of the first companies in the world to formally pledge to cut Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in line with criteria set by the Science Based Targets initiative aimed at keeping the global average temperature increase below 1.5C.

CEO of UN Global Compact Network Norway Kim N. Gabrielli welcomed Elopak to the initiative stating, “We are thrilled to have Elopak committing to the UN Global Compact. The work they have done already, is both impressive and admirable and we look forward to contributing to their sustainability efforts even further”.

“Companies taking action and setting ambitious, but science-based targets in line with the 1.5C target is very important, and we know that their hard and determined work will pay off,” Gabrielli continued.

Elopak’s Director of Sustainability Marianne Groven has also welcomed the move explaining, “This is an important step in Elopak’s sustainability journey. We are greatly looking forward to working alongside other participants and signatories to advance sustainability through the initiative, sharing learnings from our own experience and taking inspiration from others.”

“While we are proud of what we have achieved to date we recognise that we still have further to go. At Elopak we are constantly challenging ourselves to get even better, through our ambitious sustainability program,” Groven continued.

In its most recent Sustainability Report Elopak set out key targets against which it will measure future performance. These include a 55% reduction in internal GHG emissions by 2030 and a 16% reduction in emissions across the value chain by 2030 from a 2017 baseline; the use of 100% renewable materials in all Elopak cartons; key raw materials to be sourced through responsible supply chains; being a motivating workplace and improving gender diversity.