Swedish Students Win IP, Staples Recycling Strategies Competition

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Net Impact, San Francisco, Calif., USA, this week announced the winner for a case competition with International Paper, Memphis, Tenn., and Staples Inc. After a competitive application process, three finalist teams created strategic plans for recovering more paper and packaging from underserved markets, including large, multi-tenant locations, company campuses, and universities.

Students from Blekinge Institute of Technology, located in Karlskrona, Sweden, submitted the winning strategic plan. The other finalist teams included Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan. Since February, the three finalist teams have been working with key leaders at International Paper and Staples to answer questions and review the progress of their strategic plans. The Blekinge team proposed solutions for increasing the efficiency of paper recovery, branding the program, and communicating real-time recovery rates for the companies.

"The competition was a great way to practically apply the theories, frameworks, and methodologies of our Master's program in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability," said Lea Thuot, a student at the Blekinge Institute of Technology and member of the winning team. "The program we presented to International Paper and Staples should allow them to increase paper recycling in the U.S. and assist the paper industry to meet future targets for paper recovery."

Staples and IP are currently considering ways to integrate elements of the Blekinge team's plan into their existing program to recover more renewable paper products and put them back to use.