SCA’s announcement that it is divesting its packaging operations is the latest in a series of transactions which appear to be ring-fencing the hygienic disposables business.

Already over the past twelve months, leading nonwovens producers Fibertex and Fiberweb have separated their hygiene operations from other activities, while Ahlstrom has made a similar move by hiving off its wipes business to Suominen.

SCA remains Europe’s biggest private forest owner, and interviewed at the Durban Cop17 in December, the company’s VP of Environmental Affairs, Patrik Isaksson, stressed the vital importance of sustainable forest management.