Appleton Coated Recognized by EPA for Environmental Accomplishments in Transportation

COMBINED LOCKS, Wis.—November 20, 2015—Appleton Coated has been awarded the 2015 SmartWay Excellence Award by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Appleton Coated is one of only 11 companies to receive this distinction, representing the best environmental performers of SmartWay’s nearly 3,000 Partners. The other award honorees are: Canon U.S.A., Hewlett-Packard, Lowe’s Companies, Home Depot, Whirlpool Corp., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Bacardi USA, Gorton’s, Armada, and Menlo Logistics.

Appleton Coated was selected by the EPA based on its achievements in the areas of: effective collaboration, advanced technology and operational practices, a robust system to validate and report their SmartWay data, and communications and public outreach efforts.

Appleton Coated CEO Doug Osterberg commented, "We are very pleased to be honored with this award. We have been an EPA SmartWay Partner since 2008 and this recognition reflects favorably on our dedication and hard work to furthering sustainability in all areas of our operations."

Chris Grundler, director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said, "EPA is pleased to honor these SmartWay Partners with a 2015 Excellence Award. Through their environmental leadership in greener goods movement, each of these companies is demonstrating its commitment to our shared goal of a healthier, more sustainable future for the communities and families we serve."

Angie Slinger, logistics manager for Appleton Coated, also added, "This award, given to only 1- to 2-percent of SmartWay Partners each year, recognizes our company’s achievements as a Partner in the SmartWay Transport Partnership and its contributions to the sustainability of global supply chains. As a SmartWay partner and 2015 Excellence Award honoree, our company has demonstrated its commitment to environmental excellence in its freight management operations, to reduce carbon dioxide and other harmful air pollutants.”

About Appleton Coated
The first North American coated paper mill to be FSC certified (FSC C007796), Appleton Coated maintains ISO14001 certification. It is an eight-year EPA SmartWay Transport Partner and 2015 SmartWay Excellence Award Winner. It is also an EPA Green Power Partnership® National Top 100 and Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council Green Masters Winner for the last four years. In addition, it is one of seven Green Tier II companies recognized by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as having exceptional environmental management systems in place.

Appleton Coated is a manufacturer and distributor of coated, uncoated, specialty and technical papers sold under the Utopia and other brand names. The company’s products are used in high-end commercial printing, textbook publishing, label papers, transactional printing and a variety of specialty and custom applications. Selling through a chain of highly respected paper distributors, the company serves corporations, publishers, printers, converters, and graphic designers in North America. Appleton Coated’s corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility are located in Combined Locks, Wisconsin. The company has over 600 employees, including 435 represented by USW Local 2-144.

About SmartWay and SmartWay Excellence Awards

EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership is a market-driven initiative that empowers businesses to move goods in the cleanest, most energy-efficient way possible, while protecting public health and reducing the impacts of climate change. Demonstration of a commitment to corporate sustainability and social responsibility through SmartWay provides for a more competitive and environmentally-friendly business environment. Since 2004, SmartWay Partners have saved 144.3 million barrels of oil and $20.6 billion in fuel costs. SmartWay’s clean air achievements (61.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, 1,070,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 43,000 tons of particulate matter emissions avoided) help to protect the well-being of citizens.

The 2015 SmartWay Excellence Awards for shippers and logistics management companies honor partners that are helping build a market for clean and efficient freight transportation by shipping virtually all of their products and merchandise (98 percent of miles or ton-miles for shippers and 80 percent of miles or ton-miles for logistics partners) with high-performing SmartWay carriers. SmartWay shipper and logistics Award winners also were selected based on achieving superior environmental and efficiency benchmarks among all other SmartWay partners. These performance benchmarks for shippers and logistics partners were derived through an assessment of their carriers’ carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matter (PM), and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions measured in grams per mile.
Click here to view a list of Excellence Award recipients.

Source: Appleton Coated.