DS SMITH
DS Driving Sustainability At DS Smith they appear to have got sustainability all wrapped up. So we asked this dynamic FTSE 100 company, where they stand with sustainability right now, and where they would like to be. Wouter van Tol, Head of Sustainability & Government Affairs at DS Smith, provided some revealing answers. How ‘sustainability-aware’ would you say your company is and what recent measures have you taken to improve your overall contribution to the circular economy? “Quite simply, sustainability sits at the heart of everything we do at DS Smith. As a leading provider of sustainable fibre-based packaging worldwide, we play a central role in delivering fully recyclable solutions through the value chain and across sectors including e-commerce, fast moving consumer goods and industrials. We have a circular business model, with our packaging business being complemented with recycling and paper making operations. Through our purpose of ‘Redefining Packaging for a Changing World’ and our Now and Next sustainability strategy, we are committed to leading the transition to the circular economy by focusing on a number of key areas including - replacing problem plastics, taking carbon out of supply chains and providing innovative recycling solutions.
In relation to sustainability, what would you say have been your most important milestones? One of our most important recent milestones is the launch of our Circular Design Principles, created to support companies to design out waste and keep materials in circulation for as long as possible. In Europe for example, we revealed that 1.5 billion tonnes of plastic per year in Europe’s supermarket aisles could be replaced with alternative renewable materials. By implementing the Circular Design Principles, materials can be recycled or reused into new products so that the total environmental impact is minimised.
SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING NEWS
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