DAVID UPTON
SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS
Now that it’ s been a year since the combination of Smurfit Kappa and WestRock, what have been the biggest milestones and learnings and how has the integration shaped the company’ s global strategy?
David Upton: The integration brought together two highly complementary businesses rooted in sustainability, giving us a truly global footprint and the ability to serve customers more effectively across markets.
We’ re already seeing the strength of the combination, with around US $ 31bn in annual net sales.
A standout milestone has been the launch of our Green Finance Framework, which embeds sustainability directly into our funding strategy and enabled the successful issuance of US $ 2bn in green bonds – a clear signal of our long-term commitment and market confidence in our approach.
A key learning has been just how much opportunity there is when you share best practices across regions, whether that’ s in technology, operations or innovation.
DAVID UPTON
TITLE: VP, EUROPE COMPANY: SMURFIT WESTROCK
LOCATION: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
David joined Smurfit Kappa as a management trainee in 2008 and has worked in numerous roles – including spending a one-year secondment at PepsiCo. He took on his current role when Smurfit Kappa and Westrock merged last year. sustainabilitymag. com 111