Paperboard itself is made from a renewable resource, but converters need to focus on the whole package.

By Missy Smith

Converters step it up

Many paperboard converters have already taken strides to becoming more sustainable. For example, Vanguard Packaging, Kansas City, Mo., has made it its mission to seek out vendors that follow environmental sustainability practices, to use recycled raw materials and products when possible, to design and sell products that will be 100-percent recycled at the end of their useful life, to reduce the amount of energy it consumes throughout daily operations, to reduce the amount of energy consumed by its vendors in products they make or sell, and to set far-reaching goals and evaluate its progress toward these goals. Vanguard President Mark Mathes is involved in sustainability initiatives as chairman of the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters (AICC) Sustainability Committee, and a member of the Fibre Box Association Sustainability Committee, the Wal-Mart Sustainability Value Network, and the Wal-Mart CPG Committee that advises on issues relating to the Wal-Mart Scorecard.