Sonoco rated top packaging, top materials sector company in Newsweek magazine's 2011 Green Rankings, judged on environmental policies, reputation

Kendall Sinclair

HARTSVILLE, South Carolina , October 27, 2011 (press release) – Sonoco (NYSE:SON - News), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, has been rated the top packaging company and the top company in the Materials Sectors in Newsweek magazine’s 2011 Green Rankings, which assess the United States’ largest 500 public companies on their environmental footprint, environmental policies and reputation. Sonoco was also rated 202nd overall, placing the Company in the Green Ranking’s top 40 percent for the third consecutive year.

To create the 2011 Green Rankings, Newsweek collaborated with leading environmental research providers Trucost and Sustainalytics to evaluate each company’s environmental footprint, management of that footprint and transparency. Trucost used publicly disclosed environmental data to evaluate company performance on more than 700 environmental impact metrics and determine each company’s environmental impact score. Sustainalytics also evaluated the policies, programs, targets and certifications each company uses to manage its environmental performance. And, to benchmark each company’s performance against its industry peers, Sustainalytics supplemented more than a dozen core environmental indicators with over 40 sector-specific indicators. The 500 companies included in the 2011 Green Rankings are the largest U.S. companies as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees.

“We are extremely pleased to have our commitment to setting the standard for sustainability in the packaging industry recognized again this year and to be ranked the top company in the Materials Sector,” said Harris E. DeLoach, Jr., Sonoco chairman and chief executive officer. “It is also very gratifying for our employees and other stakeholders to be rated so highly, given the extensive and detailed research involved in developing the Green Rankings.”

More information about Sonoco’s environmental commitment can be found at http://www.sonoco.com/sustainability.aspx.

The full list of Newsweek’s 2011 Green Rankings can be found at http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/16/green-rankings-2011.html.


About Sonoco

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a $4.1 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with more than 300 operations in 34 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations. Sonoco is a proud member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. For more information on the Company, visit our website at http://www.sonoco.com/.

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