As of May 2024, DS Smith had replaced more than 1.2 billion pieces of plastic across its international markets.
The company’s target concerned any primary or secondary plastic packaging that has now been reduced or completely removed from customers’ packaging as a direct result of DS Smith’s initiative.
The business said the achievement has its roots in a plastic replacement and reduction programme established in 2020 as part of DS Smith’s Now & Next Sustainability Strategy, which supports the company’s purpose to “redefine packaging for a changing world”.
The target extends across DS Smith's operations in 27 countries across Europe and North America, working towards the shared, circular, objective to design out waste and keep materials in use for longer.
It said certain markets stand out, having reduced or avoided the most amount of plastic through the supply of fibre-based alternatives.
The UK leads the way, having replaced over 274 million pieces of plastic, with France next, having replaced more than 260 million pieces. Germany is in third place after replacing over 153 million pieces.
Everyday plastic items that have been replaced from supermarket shelves include fruit and vegetable punnets, plastic carriers, and shrink-wrap that is commonly found on soft drink bottles.
Critical to meeting the one billion target, and a fundamental part of the design process at DS Smith, were the company’s Circular Design Principles and Circular Design Metrics, which were created in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Each of DS Smith’s almost 800 designers have been trained in Circular Design Principles and are able 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.
DS Smith has implemented the Circular Design across a range of sectors, including retail goods, food and beverages, automotive parts, and industrial devices.
Group chief executive Miles Roberts said: “When we set our Now and Next sustainability strategy, we wanted to include goals that delivered environmental change beyond as well as within DS Smith.
“By innovating to help our customers replace or reduce plastics, we are responding to societal demands to reduce plastic pollution, as well as growing our partnerships with customers.
“I am proud of every single member of the DS Smith team for achieving this goal, and a year early. However, this is very much the beginning. There are many more positive impacts we can make by supporting our customers and communities in their sustainability goals and we are extremely motivated by this mission.
“But it is important to note that if our customers – the biggest FMCG brands – are to remove plastics at scale and at pace, they need the right regulatory framework around them. What we need are stronger, harmonised, global, regulations that level the playing field, to help businesses move away from plastic.”
