DS Smith slashes GHG emissions amid continued plastic replacement drive

19 Jul 2024 --- DS Smith has reduced GHG emissions by 19% compared to 2019 and 2020, according to its latest Sustainability Report, which sets out the company’s commitments across key focus areas of Circularity, Carbon, Nature and People & Communities.

The Now & Next Sustainability Strategy was refreshed last year to help the business prioritize circularity, accelerate the journey to net zero, and strengthen the business’ focus on protection of environmental and human health. 

Propelled by the Now & Next Strategy, DS Smith says seeks to lead the transition to a low carbon, circular economy in support of its Purpose to Redefine Packaging for a Changing World. 

In the report are DS Smith’s ESG Ratings, which include: 

• Being recognized for its leadership in corporate transparency and performance on climate change by global environmental non-profit CDP.
• Reducing total Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions by 5% compared to last year.
• Investing €90 million (US$97.9 million) to install a new biomass boiler at its Rouen paper mill in France, which is set to save 99,000 tons of CO2 a year.
• Engaging 9.8 million people on the circular economy and circular lifestyles.
• Reducing the number of accidents by 12% year-on-year.
• All 14 of its paper mills completed biodiversity activities.
• Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by 19% compared to last year.
• Ninety percent of new packaging specifications were optimized for individual customer supply chains.

Collaboration for circularity
DS Smith recently announced it had hit its target to replace over one billion pieces of plastic across international markets a year ahead of schedule, a key highlight from the report.

“I am immensely proud of our team for exceeding our plastic replacement target more than a year early, continuing to reduce our GHG emission year-on-year, and securing recognition as a sustainability leader by CDP,” says Miles Roberts, group chief executive of DS Smith.

“We believe that our Now & Next Sustainability Strategy is leading our industry, so while it is right to celebrate our colleagues’ achievements, we also know we need to keep moving forward and are working with our customers to ensure that together we can lead the transition to a low carbon, circular economy.”

DS Smith’s 800 designers have been trained in Circular Design Principles and Circular Design Metrics created in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

The company’s designers help to assess performance against areas such as recycled content and recyclability, indicative estimated CO2 emissions, levels of excess waste and supply chain parameters in partnership with customers. Since their launch, over 100,000 packaging design decisions have been influenced by the company’s Circular Design Metrics.