Joint environmental policy making and sustainable practices for the cardboard production: Case study: Smurfit Kappa

Abstract

Purpose

This paper presents an analysis of the influence of “Joint Environmental Policy-making” (JEP) in the operation of the company Smurfit Kappa (SK) in The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark (NL&AD). The paper aims to answer the question: to what extend has different levels of jointness and voluntariness of cardboard packaging-chain agreements between federal, governmental and business actors led to different recycling performances within the same company?

Design/methodology/approach

JEP's analysis was framed under the model described by Mol, Volkmar and Liefferink by using information from mixed-methods throughout a semi-structured questionnaire for interviews and revision of relevant secondary data. This is a case of cross-national comparison for which origin and implementation level of JEPs were described per country, in accordance with those stages of the cardboard production chain.

Findings

Jointness and voluntariness amongst other actors from governmental areas and business ranked high for the Dutch packaging-chain agreements with a visible impact in SK's recycling rates. SK in Austria and in Denmark, in this order, had a lower implementation level of JEPs which could be reflected in a lower recycling performance than in the Dutch SK subsidiaries. The context matters, including both political and social conditions. In particular, the role of householders as a last link in the recycling chain. Based on this, the selected countries share some societal characteristics associated with the environmental public awareness and active social participation.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an analysis of how environmental policy making is affected by the country context within the same company.

Citation

Carlos Carpio-Aguilar, J. and Franco-García, M.-L. (2013), "Joint environmental policy making and sustainable practices for the cardboard production: Case study: Smurfit Kappa", Management Research Review, Vol. 36 No. 12, pp. 1220-1237. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-06-2013-0151