Zalando—Zalando phased out packaging paper sourced from Swedish forestry company SCA over human rights and environmental concerns
Following an independent investigation into Swedish forestry company SCA's logging practices in northern Sweden, which raised human rights and environmental concerns, Zalando announced on February 16, 2026 that it would phase out SCA-sourced materials from its packaging products. Zalando does not buy directly from SCA but sources paper indirectly through packaging supplier DS Smith, one of SCA's major customers; the decision followed internal and external dialogue after the investigation concluded. Zalando's move followed a similar decision by Nestle in November 2025. SCA disputed the allegations as unconfirmed and said the impact on its operations would be limited.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Sustainability | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Supply Chain Ethics | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.214 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (low ×0.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Dagens Nyheter: Zalando phases out Swedish SCA materials, citing human rights concerns
Sweden's largest morning paper reported that Zalando decided to phase out packaging materials made by forestry company SCA after an independent investigation into SCA's forestry practices in northern Sweden raised human rights and environmental concerns.