Closing the circle to become packaging smart

To force the pace of development in circular packaging, DS Smith have developed a tool for assessing packaging and making it as eco-smart as possible.

“We help our customers to meet their environmental requirements and sustainability targets using this tool,” says Barbro Berggren of DS Smith.

Going by the name Circular Design Metrics, the tool is being presented at the company’s stand at Elmia Subcontractor. The method can perhaps best be summed up by the message on Barbro and her team’s T-shirts:

“‘Circular design is the most direct route.’ I think it’s great. Ultimately, it’s all about how the packaging is designed,” Barbro explains.

Circular design principles

By measuring the packaging’s degree of renewable raw materials, its carbon footprint and to what extent it is designed for reuse, among other parameters, the assessment produces a clear indication as to just how sustainable a packaging actually is. The circular design principles on which DS Smith base their work include optimising materials and structure, and ensuring the packaging solution saves resources, produces lower emissions and runs smoothly through the entire distribution chain – and also optimising the packaging so that as little air as possible is transported on the roads.

“We are of course sustainable”

“Sweden is far advanced when it comes to a circular mindset, and here at DS Smith we have a good point of departure, since we work with containerboard which is fully recyclable. We are of coursesustainable,” says Barbro.

DS Smith Packaging Sweden AB, headquartered in Värnamo, has 600 employees, sales of SEK 1.9 billion and delivers 220 million square metres of containerboard a year – that’s the area of 40,000 football pitches. DS Smith Group has a total of 30,000 employees in 34 countries, and handles 6 million tonnes of material for recycling every year – in Europe alone. DS Smith’s statistics show that 95% of all containerboard is recycled.

100% recyclable

One of the four themes of Elmia Subcontractor 2021 is in fact sustainability.

“We have set some tough sustainability goals within the group. For instance, all our packaging solutions will be one hundred per cent recyclable by 2023,” says Barbro.

DS Smith’s sustainability strategy – For Now. And for Next. – is part of the process to help customers meet their demands on practical functionality, market communication and circular economy, all considering future generations.

“And we’re so delighted to be back here at Elmia Subcontractor, which is a great place for us to meet our customers,” Barbro Berggren concludes.