Graphic Packaging International released its 2025 sustainability report on June 30. Later that day, Chief Sustainability Officer Michelle Fitzpatrick announced her departure from the company, ending a nearly five-year tenure.
Fitzpatrick was GPI’s first CSO, having assumed the new position in 2021. During a 2023 interview with Packaging Dive, Fitzpatrick described the evolution of GPI’s sustainability strategy, especially as external conditions changed. For instance, she detailed the company’s pivot from having intensity-based targets to setting absolute targets through the Science Based Targets initiative.
“The science-based targets are a great example of how you think about balancing growth with progress,” she said at the time. “The old-school thinking was that I can’t grow without growing my emissions.”
Fitzpatrick did not respond to Packaging Dive’s outreach for comments.
A GPI spokesperson confirmed via email that Fitzpatrick exited on Tuesday, and said the company is grateful for her leadership and contributions to its sustainability program. The spokesperson said that sustainability will remain an important part of GPI’s business strategy, and the company is “aligning the right operating model across our sustainability team to advance this work.”
GPI did not respond to questions about the reasons for Fitzpatrick’s departure or whether it plans to fill the CSO role or eliminate it.
Across industries, numerous chief sustainability officers have left during the last year without those companies naming a successor, including at Apple. Some companies, including Wells Fargo and Unilever, eliminated the CSO title while revamping their sustainability structures, but they still have a team addressing sustainability matters. WM is among the companies that have transitioned their CSOs into other operational roles.
Sustainability progress
GPI reported small regressions on certain emissions and recyclability targets. It continues to work toward a long-term goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
In 2025, 96% of the fiber specialist’s packaging sold was characterized as recyclable. That’s down slightly from 97% in 2024.
Toward the 2030 goal of 90% renewable fuel use at its wood-based paperboard mills, GPI achieved 76% in 2025. While that’s up from 74% in 2024, the company included a note that it’s reviewing capital spending plans which could push the ability to attain this target past 2032.
GPI’s emissions targets were approved by SBTi in 2023.
By 2030, the company aims for a 50.4% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions from a 2021 baseline. It charted a 4% reduction by the end of 2025, a shift from the 10% decrease it showed by the end of 2024.
By 2032, GPI is shooting for a 30% reduction in scope 3 emissions from a 2021 baseline. The company reported a 15% drop in 2025; the prior year it had a 3% decrease.
“I’m energized by the momentum we’re building. We’re proving that doing the right thing and delivering results aren’t competing priorities,” Fitzpatrick said in the report.
String of departures
Fitzpatrick’s exit comes as the company has been undergoing significant change during the last seven months, including cutting about 500 employees, or approximately 3% of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring.
Robbert Rietbroek became CEO this year following GPI’s controversial December announcement that former CEO Mike Doss would depart.
Doss and former GPI CFO Stephen Scherger, who left in November to become Amcor’s CFO, were named along with GPI as defendants in a class-action lawsuit in May alleging they violated federal securities laws by misleading investors.
Last week, Doss was named CEO of Global Cellulose Fibers, a company formed in January when private equity firm American Industrial Partners purchased the business for $1.5 billion from International Paper.
