DS Smith has removed over 170 million pieces of problem plastic from packaging, replaced with paper

According to DS Smith, the company has made strong progress against its plastic replacement targets as part of its half year financial update to the market. The company reported 170 million pieces of problem plastic had been replaced by its paper-based solutions for supermarkets and online retailers around the world since the launch of its Now and Next Sustainability strategy last year.

The business reported removing on average more than 2 million pieces of single use plastic a week from its customers' packaging and store display products - equivalent to 12,000 pieces an hour - boosting their customers' packaging recyclability and reducing negative impacts on the environment.

Keith Ledbetter, managing director of DS Smith North America, said: "Working with our customers here in North America, we're actively contributing to DS Smith's replacement of more than one billion pieces of problem plastic with fully recyclable, fibre-based packaging solutions by 2025. Our customers and their consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable, environmentally friendly packaging, and we're fully embracing this agenda for change to protect the planet."

Using its Circular Design Principles, DS Smith's designers create innovative designs to eliminate even the smallest amounts of plastic packaging, such as replacing plastic sealing tape with self-locking cardboard flaps and swapping plastic labels with print direct onto cardboard.

DS Smith announced in September 2021 it had embedded its Circular Design Metrics across all its packaging sites which enable it to measure the sustainability performance of each of its packaging designs across a range of indicators including carbon footprint, design for reuse and material utilization.