Metsa Board, Europe’s leading producer of fresh forest fiber cartonboards and part of Metsa Group, has received a ‘Partner to Win’ award in sustainability from Unilever. The award was presented to Metsä Board for its development of light weight and sustainable boards and its significant contribution to Unilever’s packaging, and was announced at Unilever’s second annual Partner to Win Supplier Summit held in early May 2012.

“We are delighted with the award and see it as high recognition of the work we have done to develop light weight boards, as well as our progress in many different fields of sustainability across the whole Metsa Group,” says Pasi Piiparinen, SVP, head of paperboard, Metsa Board. “Using a lighter weight board can reduce the carbon footprint of a carton significantly. When scaled up across a wide range of fast moving consumer goods products, with global distribution, the potential for reducing environmental impact is quite dramatic.”

Unilever launched the Partner to Win program in 2011 to work more closely with its key suppliers, ensure faster innovation and invest sustainably throughout its value chain.

Photo:Pasi Piiparinen, SVP, head of paperboard (left), and Mika Manninen, sales director of Metsa Board, receive the Unilever Partner to Win award for sustainability.