Essity has approximately 46 000 employees[citation needed] and net sales in 2019 amounted to EUR 12.2 billion.[3] The name Essity stems from the words essentials and necessity.
SCA was founded in 1929 as a forestry company. In 1975, SCA acquired Mölnlycke AB, a western European producer of disposable hygiene products.
Zellstofffabrik Waldhof in Mannheim, origin of PWA and the Zewa brand
In 1995 they acquired the German paper and packaging company PWA, Papierwerke Waldhof-Aschaffenburg.
In 2001 the division Wisconsin Tissue of the United States company Georgia-Pacific Tissue was acquired.
In 2004 SCA acquired the tissue and hygiene products businesses of Carter Holt Harvey from International Paper.
In 2007, Procter & Gamble sold their European tissue business to SCA for €512 million ($672 million).[5]
In 2007 SCA acquired its first minority share in the Asian tissue company Vinda.
In 2011, it acquired the Brazilian Pro Descart for about R$114 million, with local brands Biofral and Drybaby. Later, it invested R$242 million in a plant in Jarinu, in the interior of São Paulo, consolidating the brands TENA and Tork.
In July 2012, the acquisition of Georgia Pacific's tissue operations, including the brand Lotus, was closed. The total price amounted to €1.32 billion.
In 2013 SCA became majority shareholder in Vinda.[6]
In 2015, SCA was the largest producer of tissue paper in the world.[7]
In August 2015 it was announced that SCA's hygiene operations and forestry operations were to be divided into two different divisions. A year later, 24 August 2016, the company announced that it intended to split the SCA into two separately listed companies. In December 2016 SCA announced the acquisition of BSN Medical, a company specializing in the areas of Compression Therapy, Wound Care and Orthopaedics. The purchase price amounted to €2740 million and included brands such as Jobst, Leukoplast, Cutimed, Delta Cast and Actimove. In 2017, SCA split off Essity as a separate company, and Essity listed on the Stock Exchange in Stockholm on June 15, 2017.[8]
Company representatives participate in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's "New Plastics Economy" initiative[17] and have committed to sustainability targets for packaging, for example that 85% of the company's packaging is to be manufactured from renewable or recycled material by 2025.[18]
Criticism
Along with its supplier SCA, Essity was accused by Greenpeace of promoting unsustainable business practices aggravating global warming and mass extinction. Greenpeace claim that Essity "clearcuts some of Sweden’s last remaining old-growth forests, wiping away habitats of threatened species and endangering the livelihood of indigenous communities".[19]
In late August 2022, Essity announced their intention to sue lockedout striking workers at a paper-mill in Kawerau, New Zealand, for ~$580,000 NZD because they began their strike an hour earlier than stated.[20] The strike began in early August over a pay dispute, and involved 145 workers.[21]
