中文UPM has once again been awarded EcoVadis Platinum, the highest recognition from the corporate sustainability ratings platform, maintaining its position in the top one percent of more than 150,000 assessed companies worldwide. For the second consecutive year, UPM achieved a score of 90 out of 100, reinforcing a sustainability performance record that has remained at Platinum level since 2020 — five consecutive years of top-tier recognition.
What EcoVadis Measures and Why It Matters
EcoVadis evaluates companies across four categories: Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. The assessment is not a self-reported survey but a structured evaluation that draws on documented policies, reported actions, and third-party verification. A Platinum rating means that a company’s sustainability performance is in the top one percent of all businesses assessed — not just in its sector, but across the entire global database.
The significance of this recognition has shifted over the past five years. In 2020, when UPM first achieved Platinum, sustainability ratings were primarily a differentiator — something that helped a company stand out in a market where most competitors were not yet engaging seriously with environmental and social performance. By 2026, the landscape has changed. EcoVadis ratings, CDP scores, and similar assessments have become baseline expectations for many procurement processes, particularly in the packaging and printing sectors where brand owners and retailers increasingly require suppliers to demonstrate measurable sustainability performance as a condition of doing business.
The CDP Supplier Engagement Dimension
In addition to the EcoVadis result, UPM received an A score in CDP’s 2025 Supplier Engagement Assessment, which evaluates how companies involve their suppliers in climate-related action. This is a particularly demanding assessment because it measures not just a company’s own performance but its ability to drive improvement through its supply chain — an area where many companies struggle because supplier engagement requires investment in training, monitoring, and collaborative programmes that go beyond simply specifying requirements.
“These recognitions respond to our customers’ expectations and reinforce the value of high product quality, transparency and responsible performance across our operations and supply chain,” said Gabriele Wende, Director, Responsibility at UPM. The framing is deliberate: sustainability performance is not separate from product quality and business responsibility — it is an integral dimension of the value proposition that UPM offers to its customers.
Why This Matters for the Print and Packaging Industry
UPM is one of the largest suppliers of paper and fibre-based materials to the global print and packaging industry. Its sustainability performance directly affects the sustainability profile of every product that uses UPM materials — from publication papers to packaging boards, from label substrates to release liners. When a packaging converter specifies UPM materials, the EcoVadis Platinum rating and CDP A score become part of that converter’s own sustainability story, something they can reference in their own customer communications and regulatory disclosures.
This chain effect is becoming increasingly important as regulations such as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) impose sustainability requirements that extend through the value chain. Converters and printers who use materials from suppliers with verified, top-tier sustainability performance have an advantage over those who use materials from suppliers with weaker or unverified records — not because the product performs differently, but because the documentation and traceability of sustainability performance is stronger.
The Trend Toward Transparency as Standard
The broader trend is clear: sustainability transparency is moving from competitive advantage to market standard. Five years ago, an EcoVadis Platinum rating was a differentiator that set UPM apart. Today, it is increasingly a baseline expectation. The number of companies assessed by EcoVadis has grown dramatically, and procurement teams in major brands and retailers now routinely include sustainability rating requirements in their supplier qualification processes.
For UPM, maintaining Platinum across five consecutive years demonstrates consistency rather than one-off performance. Consistency matters because sustainability is not a project with a completion date — it is an ongoing commitment that must be maintained, improved, and documented year after year. A single Platinum rating is impressive; five consecutive years of Platinum at 90/100 is evidence of systemic integration rather than exceptional effort.
Source: inkish.news / upm.com
