Sverker Martin-Löf was born on November 8, 1943, in Hudiksvall, Sweden. He received a Tech Licentiate Degree from the Royal Institute of Technology, a Master of Engineering as well as an Honorary Ph.D. from the Mid Sweden University. He is one of Sweden’s most renowned industrialists who played a key role in a number of Swedish industries, including pulp and paper. Martin-Löf began with some fundamental work on cellulosic materials and then headed a large project in Sweden on process closure of paper machines, which had a huge practical impact on the paper industry in Sweden. Martin-Löf co-authored more than 30 research papers and technical reports at the Swedish Pulp and Paper Research Institute (STFI).
Martin-Löf joined SCA as a Division Manager in 1977. In 1983 he became President and CEO of Sunds Defibrator. He re-joined SCA in 1986, advanced to CEO in 1988, President and CEO in 1990 and then Chairman in 2002. Martin-Löf completely changed SCA’s product mix. By the end of 2012, tissue and personal hygiene products represented 80 percent of total sales of SCA.
SCA is a leading global hygiene and forest products company that develops and produces sustainable personal care, tissue and forest products and has sales in about 100 countries under many strong brands. As Europe’s largest owner of private forests, the company puts great emphasis on sustainable forest management. In 2012, SCA had annual sales of SEK 85 billion (13 billion USD) and 36,000 employees.
Martin-Löf established several globally distributed innovation networks for SCA. For example, the forest products and graphic papers R&D are located on the Mid Sweden University campus in Sundsvall. R&D for tissue and personal care products are centered in Sweden with other nodes and centers of innovation in China, Malaysia, Germany, the United States and Mexico. This distributed innovation network model allows for close interaction with customers, end-users and business partners.
SCA is currently ranked as one of the world’s most sustainable companies – environmentally, financially and socially. They’ve been recognized as one of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies and as one of the world’s most ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Sustainability is an integral part of SCA’s operations and strategy for growth and value creation with a focus on a smaller environmental footprint and reduced costs and risk.
Currently Martin-Löf is Chairman of Industrivärden, one of the Nordic region’s leading holding companies with controlling investments in companies such as Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA), Handelsbanken, Sandvik, Volvo, Ericsson, SSAB and Skanska. He is also Chairman of SCA and SSAB as well as Vice Chairman of Ericsson and Svenska Handelsbanken. He is also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.