Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Metsä Board maintains EcoVadis Platinum rating, highlighting the growing role of supplier sustainability
Responsible sourcingSustainability PerformanceSupply chain
Metsä Board has once again achieved the highest Platinum level in the EcoVadis sustainability assessment, ranking among the top 1% of companies assessed in the paper, paperboard and packaging manufacturing category. With a score of 90/100, the company has maintained the highest rating continuously since 2017.
For companies across the pharmaceutical value chain, sustainability performance is increasingly extending beyond their own operations. Suppliers are facing growing expectations to demonstrate measurable progress, transparency and robust sustainability management, particularly as Scope 3 emissions and responsible sourcing become more central to corporate strategies.
Metsä Board's latest EcoVadis assessment provides one example of how suppliers are increasingly being evaluated through structured sustainability frameworks. The assessment covers four areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement, with Metsä Board receiving high scores across all categories.
The significance goes beyond the rating itself. EcoVadis assessments are increasingly used by companies as part of supplier selection, monitoring and responsible procurement programmes. For manufacturers supplying pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, demonstrating credible sustainability performance can therefore become an increasingly important element of commercial relationships.
Metsä Board also uses EcoVadis as part of its own approach to sustainability management, both to assess and report its performance and to evaluate the sustainability performance of its suppliers. This creates a two-way dynamic: companies are not only expected to improve their own environmental and social performance, but are increasingly expected to understand and influence the performance of their wider supply chains.
This is particularly relevant as pharmaceutical companies continue to look beyond operational emissions and address the more complex challenges associated with Scope 3. Packaging materials, raw materials, logistics and other upstream activities can all contribute to a company's overall sustainability footprint, making supplier engagement an increasingly important part of the transition.
The broader trend is clear: sustainability credentials are gradually becoming part of how companies assess business partners, rather than remaining a separate reporting exercise. Independent assessments such as EcoVadis can provide a common framework for comparing performance and supporting more structured supplier discussions.
For the pharmaceutical industry, this shift reinforces the importance of collaboration across the value chain. Progress on sustainability will increasingly depend not only on what individual companies do within their own operations, but also on how effectively they engage suppliers, share data and integrate sustainability criteria into sourcing and procurement decisions.
Metsä Board's continued Platinum rating is therefore one example of a wider evolution: sustainability performance is becoming increasingly visible, measurable and relevant to business relationships across the supply chain.