Mondi chief calls on industry to play its part in creating a better future

Andrew King, group chief executive of packaging and paper maker Mondi, has called on the industry to play its part in creating a better future for the planet.

In a keynote speech at the 25th Fastmarkets Forest Products Europe Conference in Prague in March, King addressed opportunities for the packaging and paper industry to contribute to building a more sustainable future through partnership and innovation. He cited some of the world’s biggest sustainability challenges, including food loss, plastic pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change as key areas where the packaging value chain can accelerate change.

He encouraged delegates to think about what he called “the big question – for all of us”.

“It’s a question my children ask me and I’m sure your families and friends are asking you,” he said. “It’s one we are rightly asked by any talented people thinking about joining our industry, and of course the communities we work with. It’s a question for all of us here – and for our industry more broadly: How can we play our part in creating a better future for our planet?”

To drive the change the planet needs and move forward as an industry, he highlighted that connec-tion across the value chain has never been more important – “to develop ideas, technologies and solutions at scale”.

Two other areas King considers vital to making progress are engaging with complexity and changing people’s perceptions of the paper and packaging industry. “There are no simple answers,” he said. “We need to manage a variety of trade-offs like material efficiency and durability in terms of reuse and recyclability… and use a variety of solutions involving different materials if we want to make progress.”

On perceptions, he said the industry needs to tell its story better: “We’re an industry focused on doing the right thing, full of incredible innovation, with real commitment to tackling our planet’s biggest sustainability challenges. We should be an industry of choice for anyone passionate about sustainability, technology, innovation and partnership working on a global scale.”

As part of the conference, attendees had the opportunity to tour Mondi’s Štětí kraft paper mill. The tour came after news of a €400 million investment in a new 210,000 tonnes per year kraft paper machine at the mill, announced in October 2022. The decision forms part of Mondi’s capital investment programme of more than €1 billion to accelerate growth and meet the growing demand for sustainable paperbased packaging.

Mondi’s global sales for the 2022 year were €8.9 billion, up by 28 per cent on the previous year. Profit before tax more than doubled to €1.56bn.