THE SUSTAINABILITY INTERVIEW
“ From an operational perspective, we understand the economic benefit of good water stewardship,” Garrett explains.“ It goes hand in hand with environmental benefit.”
Biodiversity is another area of focus. Protecting ecosystems is particularly relevant for a company that relies on forestry resources. Smurfit Westrock works with organisations such as WWF( World Wide Fund for Nature) and The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit. These partnerships support both conservation and data collection.“ We do this through appropriate partnerships and internal capacity,” Garrett says.
In Brazil and Colombia, the company’ s forestry operations are fully certified by the Forest Stewardship Council( FSC), an international body promoting responsible forest management.“ All of our owned forests are 100 % FSC certified,” Garrett notes.“ They leverage extensive biodiversity strategies and data collection efforts.”
Decarbonisation presents a different set of challenges. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in industrial processes often requires new technologies. These technologies can be expensive or not yet widely available.“ The challenge is the commercial impact of going all in on something that is more expensive or not widely available,” Garrett explains.
28 July 2026