This year's winner of the Sunpine Sustainability Award is Smurfit Kappa

​For over 40 years, Smurfit Kappa has supplied district heating to Piteå Energi. Now they are awarded the SunPine Sustainability Award:

– Smurfit Kappa focuses on sustainability in an exemplary way, says Magnus Edin, CEO of SunPine and jury chairman.

The idea of the Sustainability Award is partly to highlight the good examples that exist in Piteå and partly to stimulate others to be inspired for continued sustainability work. The basis for the award is Sustainability and in order for the award itself to be sustainable over time, the award has a different theme each year, based on the UN's global goals in Agenda 2030. In 2018, SunPine awarded the Sustainability Award for the first time. At that time, the award went to Lindbäcks Group, a fundamentally sustainable company that had also excelled in Goal 5; Gender Equality.

Now it's time to award the Sustainability Award for 2019.

Magnus Edin, CEO, SunPine;

– This year's theme is based on three of the 17 climate goals; Goal 7 Sustainable Energy, Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and Goal 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production

– This year's three nominees have all been inspiring role models in sustainability and in different ways have shown the way forward for a sustainable society.

This year's winner of the SunPine Sustainability Award is Smurfit Kappa:

Magnus Edin;

– Over the last 20-40 years, Smurfit Kappa has had fantastic development in terms of working with energy efficiency and sustainable energy supply for its own part.

– Smurfit Kappa has supplied heat to district heating and Pite Energi for more than 40 years. The collaboration with Pite Energi has developed over the years and the district heating network has grown. Over 3,700 buildings, three bathhouses and a pedestrian street in central Piteå are heated by district heating from Smurfit Kappa.

– Smurfit Kappa is a company that focuses on Sustainability throughout its operations and is a true role model. It is in every way a worthy winner of the Sustainability Award.

The other nominees are highlighted for their exemplary work with Sustainability;

– PiteBo for the energy saving program; Already in 2015, Pitebo could boast of being among the first 20 housing companies to pass the country's most ambitious energy saving program – the Skåne Initiative – to reduce energy consumption by 20%. Pitebo continues to work on further efficiency, including in three different collaborations with Luleå University of Technology as a partner.

– AlterHedens Rabarberi & Gårdsbutik; Delicatessen producer and shop with a focus on sustainably locally produced food products directly from nature's pantry. Self-sufficient in terms of electricity thanks to solar cells, makes its own packaging material by recycling corrugated cardboard that is torn and replaces packaging chips for packaging. Already praised by LRF and Swedbank for its green entrepreneurship.

– All three are important role models for all of us in the business community. It is important that more people do more to transform our society to more sustainable wages. For SunPine, Sustainability is part of our DNA and it feels good to be able to nominate and highlight good examples through the Sustainability Award, says Magnus Edin, CEO. SunPine.