Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK), (the “Company” or “Graphic Packaging”), has announced that Michelle M. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., will join the Company as its first Chief Sustainability Officer. Graphic Packaging has had a long-standing commitment to running operations in a sustainable manner and has continued to advance environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs at the Company to benefit all stakeholders. The Company’s consumer packaging solutions are inherently sustainable, are made from renewable and recyclable materials and support the move to a more circular economy.
Graphic Packaging has the planet’s future in mind with critical investments in infrastructure and people to continually advance innovation efforts and its resolve to lessen packaging waste and impact on the environment. The appointment of Michelle Fitzpatrick is another step in the Company’s pursuit of Vision 2025 and reflects awareness of the critical nature of sustainable business practices to achieve those goals. Graphic Packaging has made great strides executing ESG programs and initiatives, including the coated recycled board mill optimization project that will ramp in the fourth quarter of 2021, and helping customers achieve their ESG aspirations with new, innovative and more circular packaging alternatives.
Welcoming Michelle to her new role as the Company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, President and CEO of Graphic Packaging, Michael Doss commented, “We are committed to a world-class sustainability program and executing improvements to our reporting, ensuring transparency and focusing on topics that matter most to investors, customers, employees and other stakeholders. Michelle brings a wealth of industry knowledge and environmental engineering expertise. Her experience and skillsets will further advance our risk management oversight, including strategic planning to mitigate risk from climate change impacts as well as identifying new opportunities and challenges our Company can address for customers. Our Company’s long-standing commitment to sustainability practices has evolved to meet the needs of our stakeholders and our communities. Michelle will lead advancements in reporting and elevate our ESG communication platform. We have a compelling story to tell, and we intend to amplify our communications and reporting for stakeholders as we exceed milestones and set new ones.”
Most recently, Michelle served as the Global Sustainability Leader at The Chemours Company, one of the world’s leading producers of titanium dioxide and has previously held roles within the Titanium Technologies business segment and the corporate remediation function. Michelle also has a Ph.D. in environmental (civil) engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in addition to her M.S.E. in environmental engineering and B.S.E. in chemical engineering from Tulane University.
Michelle has excelled at advancing companies’ sustainability programs by developing unique strategies specific to designated industry goals. Michelle’s role will support Graphic Packaging’s commitment to making a positive, lasting impact on the planet and on future generations through sustainable fiber-based consumer packaging solutions. As the CSO, Michelle will collaborate with cross-functional global leaders at the Company and will interact regularly with the Board of Directors, building on and executing the Company’s ESG strategy. Her appointment reflects organizational commitment to continued innovation in the sustainability of global operations and the packaging solutions produced for customers and consumers.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, business plans, strategies, initiatives and objectives and their expected execution and impact; and assumptions and expectations regarding any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and elsewhere in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, and in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
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