DS Smith recognized for packaging evaluation service

Last week, London-based paper packaging producer DS Smith, an International Paper company, was recognized for its Recyclability Evaluation Service (RES) with an award from European paper packaging alliance 4evergreen, honoring products or services enabling enhanced recycling processes.

The RES was created for customers producing, specifying or developing fiber-based packaging, offering a detailed assessment and breakdown of a packaging product’s recyclability as well as guidance on how to improve recycling credentials in a standard European recycling facility or paper mill.

“We are thrilled to win this 4evergreen award for our Recyclability Evaluation Service,” DS Smith Marketing Director Anita Clarke says. “This initiative has been a tremendous success with customers in terms of evaluating their packaging’s recyclability in the context of a large-scale and real-world recycling experience.

DS Smith evaluators test each product to assess its suitability for recycling within a European mill using the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) Recycling Test Methodology and the 4evergreen Recyclability Evaluation Protocol. After testing, customers receive a report and a recyclability score from -100 to +100.

The company says its RES lab testing is intended to support its customers and businesses in decreasing fees under new or upcoming legislation, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and extended producer responsibility (EPR).

The RES is operated from DS Smith’s repulpability lab within its Kemsley Mill, one of the largest recycled paper mills in Europe. Originally built in 1924, the mill has an annual production capacity of about 830,000 metric tons of light medium. The lab, which opened in 2021, is used for researching technologies that enhance the performance and sustainability qualities of fiber-based packaging, including coatings and barrier technologies, wet-end chemistries, surface chemistries, repulpability and recyclability.

“We are committed to helping them futureproof their packaging solutions as they navigate PPWR and EPR, and to supporting them in developing recyclable packaging across an international footprint,” Clarke says. “We are collaborating and working together to drive the circular economy in packaging solutions.”