WestRock sustainability after the Smurfit Westrock merger
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What changed for WestRock sustainability reporting
For readers searching for WestRock sustainability, the reporting baseline has changed. WestRock is now part of Smurfit Westrock, the company formed through the strategic combination of Smurfit Kappa and WestRock in July 2024. As a result, sustainability performance is no longer best assessed as a stand-alone WestRock story. The most relevant update is Smurfit Westrock’s 2025 Sustainability Report, announced on May 12, 2026, which set out combined Better Planet targets for 2030. These include a 28% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, a 22% cut in water intake at mills, a 24% reduction in mill waste sent to landfill, and more than $40 million in social, environmental and community investment by 2030.
That change gives packaging buyers, sustainability teams and investors a more useful reference point. Instead of reviewing legacy WestRock data in isolation, they now need to consider how the combined paper-based packaging company is integrating climate, circularity, fiber sourcing, water stewardship and product design across a much larger operating footprint. For more packaging sustainability coverage, visit our sustainability section.
From legacy WestRock to a combined sustainability framework
WestRock’s sustainability record previously focused on its own paper and packaging operations, including recycled fiber use, greenhouse gas reductions, responsible forestry, water management and packaging recyclability. After the July 5, 2024 combination with Smurfit Kappa, the reporting structure changed. Smurfit Westrock’s 2024 Sustainability Report still reflected a transition year, with data from the two legacy companies not fully integrated in all areas. The 2025 report is more important for current analysis because it is the first reporting cycle built around the combined company’s sustainability strategy and targets.
The scale of the combined business changes the sustainability question. In the Planet section of its 2025 report, the company reported operations in 40 countries and 668 production sites. Its supporting data listed 96,952 employees as of December 31, 2025. For packaging stakeholders, that scale creates both opportunity and complexity. A larger network can support recycling infrastructure, fiber sourcing systems, customer innovation and capital investment. At the same time, it makes target-setting, Scope 3 reporting, regional water risk assessment and product-level claims harder to standardize.
The practical takeaway is straightforward: anyone evaluating WestRock sustainability today should use combined Smurfit Westrock data, while checking whether a figure applies to all operations, mills only, legacy WestRock, legacy Smurfit Kappa, or a specific region. That distinction matters most for emissions, water, waste and certified fiber metrics.
Key 2030 targets and 2025 indicators
Smurfit Westrock’s Better Planet targets provide the clearest current framework for assessing progress. Several environmental targets use a 2019 baseline and a 2030 target year. The company also reports 2025 indicators that show the scale of the operating challenge.
| Area | 2030 target or commitment | 2025 indicator to watch | Why it matters for packaging buyers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate | Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 28% from a 2019 baseline | 10,813 ktonnes of Scope 1 and 2 CO2e across all operations | Mill energy use is a major driver of the footprint of fiber-based packaging |
| Scope 3 | No final public reduction target stated in the same way as Scope 1 and 2 | 11,499 ktonnes of Scope 3 CO2e reported for 2025 | Purchased goods, logistics and downstream processing affect customer supply-chain emissions |
| Water | Cut mill water intake by 22% from a 2019 baseline | 580 million m3 of water withdrawal at mills; 30.4 m3 per tonne intensity | Water risk varies by region and mill location, so site-level context matters |
| Waste | Reduce mill waste sent to landfill by 24% from a 2019 baseline | About 1.5 million tonnes of mill waste sent to landfill and 1.7 million tonnes sent for recycling and recovery | Recovered fiber can generate rejects, making waste recovery central to circularity claims |
| Fiber | Source all fiber from responsibly managed forests and maintain chain-of-custody systems for wholly owned fiber-based facilities | 34.8% of wood from certified forests and 65.2% from non-controversial sources | Certification and traceability support responsible sourcing claims |
| Communities | Invest more than $40 million in social, environmental and community initiatives by 2030 | More than $10 million in community donations reported for 2025 | Social investment is part of broader ESG evaluation, not just environmental performance |
The table shows why WestRock sustainability can no longer be reduced to a simple recyclable-packaging claim. The current framework combines operational decarbonization, circular fiber flows, responsible forestry, water management, landfill reduction and stakeholder engagement.
Climate strategy shows progress and limits
The 2025 climate data points to a strategy built around energy efficiency, biofuels, renewable electricity, fuel switching, capital upgrades, and supplier and customer engagement. In 2025, 55% of direct fuel used by Smurfit Westrock across all operations came from biofuels, while natural gas represented 36%, coal 5% and other fossil fuels 4%. The company also reported approximately 700,000 MWh of renewable electricity contracted annually through large-scale virtual power purchase agreements in North America.
The company’s mill system reported an energy intensity of 5.25 MWh per tonne of produced paper in 2025. Because papermaking is energy intensive, mill efficiency improvements can have a meaningful effect on packaging-related emissions. Smurfit Westrock’s 2025 examples include four facilities in France that achieved net zero operational emissions for Scope 1 and 2 after decarbonization upgrades. The projects included moving to renewable electricity, replacing fuel-powered forklifts with electric models, and replacing fossil fuel heating systems with higher-efficiency alternatives. The company said the projects are expected to reduce emissions by around 300 tonnes of CO2 annually and lower energy consumption by 230 MWh annually.
There are limits to the climate story. The 28% target applies to Scope 1 and 2 emissions, not all value-chain emissions. The company’s own reporting describes Scope 3 as an iterative process because it depends on supplier data, secondary datasets and modeled estimates. That is a common challenge in global packaging supply chains. For buyers, the most useful question is not only whether the company has a corporate target, but whether it can provide product-specific or order-specific carbon information that reflects fiber source, mill, converting site, transport route and end-of-life assumptions.
Circular fiber is central to the packaging value proposition
Paper-based packaging is often described as a circular material because wood fiber is renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. Smurfit Westrock’s 2025 reporting provides figures behind that claim. The company stated that approximately 55% of its raw material was recycled fiber, with the balance coming from renewable wood supplied through chain-of-custody certified supply chains. Its mills consumed approximately 13.1 million tons of recycled fiber in 2025.
The company’s recovered paper network included 70 depots: 25 in Europe, 32 in North America and 13 in Latin America. That network matters because circular packaging depends not only on whether a box is technically recyclable, but also on whether collection, sorting, pulping and fiber recovery systems exist in the markets where the packaging is used.
Fiber sourcing is another important part of the circularity discussion. In 2025, the company reported that 69.6% of paper produced was certified and 98.6% of chain-of-custody conform paper was used in packaging facilities or sold to third parties. These figures do not mean every individual package carries the same certification claim. They do show that chain-of-custody systems are a major part of how the company supports responsible sourcing and customer documentation.
Smurfit Westrock also uses its Better Planet Packaging initiative to connect corporate sustainability work with customer packaging decisions. In 2025, the company reported 99 Better Planet Packaging Days with more than 2,200 external participants across all regions. These events covered topics such as decarbonization, regulation, circularity and packaging redesign. For customers, this is where broad sustainability goals become practical decisions about right-weighting, material substitution, recyclability, line performance, transport efficiency and compliance with packaging rules. See also: Box Design.
Water and waste are where mill operations become visible
Water is a high-priority issue because paper manufacturing requires large volumes of process water. Smurfit Westrock reported 580 million m3 of water withdrawal at mills in 2025 and a global water withdrawal intensity of 30.4 m3 per tonne. The company states that it typically recycles process water several times before treatment and discharge, and that more than 90% of the water it uses is returned to nature in good condition, while the rest evaporates during production or remains bound to products.
The company is also expanding water risk assessment. Its 2025 reporting said it had mapped water-related risks using the World Resources Institute Aqueduct tool and the Water Risk Filter, and that eight paper mills were assessed during 2025 and early 2026. Case examples include a €12.5 million wastewater treatment plant upgrade at the Facture mill in France and a $30 million wastewater pre-treatment and recycling system upgrade at the Solvay mill in New York, highlighted in the company’s May 2026 announcement.
Waste is closely tied to recovered fiber. When mills process recovered paper, they separate usable fiber from plastics, sand, metals, glass, textiles and other non-usable materials. That reject stream is why landfill reduction is a meaningful test of circularity. In 2025, Smurfit Westrock’s paper mills sent about 1.5 million tonnes of waste to landfill and about 1.7 million tonnes of non-fibrous material for recycling and recovery. The company also reported 45,000 tonnes of hazardous waste sent to treatment, equal to 1.4% of total waste.
Several site examples show how waste reduction can move beyond reporting. At the Zülpich paper mill in Germany, a fiber recovery process was reported to recover more than 90% of fibers that had typically been lost in the plastic reject stream. At the Barranquilla mill in Colombia, waste to landfill decreased from 425 tons in 2024 to 86 tons in 2025, with 97% of non-hazardous waste recovered during the year. These examples are useful because they show that circularity depends on process engineering and partnerships, not only on material selection.
What packaging buyers should ask next
The strongest way to use WestRock sustainability information is to connect corporate targets with product-level evidence. A corporate emissions target, recycled fiber figure or forestry commitment can provide useful context, but it does not automatically define the footprint or recyclability of a specific package.
- Ask for the relevant boundary. Confirm whether the data covers all operations, mills only, a region, a legacy business or a specific product line.
- Request product-specific documentation. For packaging procurement, useful evidence may include fiber certification, recycled content, recyclability guidance, life cycle assessment assumptions and transport data.
- Check local end-of-life realities. A package can be designed for recyclability, but actual recovery depends on local collection and recycling infrastructure.
- Separate Scope 1 and 2 from Scope 3. Operational emissions targets are important, but many customer supply-chain impacts sit in Scope 3, where data quality is still developing.
- Look for measurable progress. Targets are more credible when paired with reported baselines, annual indicators and site-level projects.
Overall, the post-merger sustainability picture is more comprehensive than legacy WestRock reporting alone. It also requires more careful reading. Smurfit Westrock has set measurable 2030 targets and published a broader set of 2025 operating data, but packaging buyers should still evaluate claims at the product, site and supply-chain level before using them in their own sustainability reporting.
Frequently asked questions
Is WestRock still reporting sustainability separately?
For current reporting, WestRock sustainability information is best reviewed through Smurfit Westrock’s combined sustainability disclosures. Legacy WestRock reports remain useful for historical comparison, but they should not be treated as the current full-company framework after the July 2024 combination.
What are Smurfit Westrock’s main 2030 sustainability targets?
The main Better Planet targets include reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 28%, cutting mill water intake by 22%, reducing mill waste sent to landfill by 24%, and investing more than $40 million in social, environmental and community initiatives by 2030. The environmental targets use a 2019 baseline.
Does this mean all former WestRock packaging is recyclable?
No. A corporate sustainability statement does not prove that every package is recyclable in every market. Paper-based and corrugated packaging can have strong recyclability advantages, but coatings, adhesives, product contamination, local recycling rules and collection systems can affect actual recovery.
Why does Scope 3 matter for packaging customers?
Scope 3 includes upstream and downstream activities such as purchased goods, fuel- and energy-related activities, logistics, processing of sold products and end-of-life treatment. These categories often matter to customers because packaging is part of their own supply-chain emissions profile.
