DS Smith, a British sustainable packaging company, recently opened a recycling facility in Reading, which is its first in the United States and part of its expanded North America operations.
The 43,000-square-foot facility will recycle material from DS Smith’s Reading corrugated packaging plant and from companies in the region to recover paper from packaging facilities, print shops, local distribution centers, and retailers.
Recyclable cardboard and paper will be separated from other materials then compressed into large bales. The facility can sell recycled packaging products and service the paper mill.
The company’s recycling process allows for corrugated packaging to be made, used, collected, and recycled into corrugated boxes within 14 days. The process reduces fiber in the boxes by up to 30 percent.
“This new plant can recycle over 36,000 tons of old corrugated cardboard each year, creating new fully recyclable packaging for our customers in this region,” Toby Earnest, head of recycling for DS Smith in North America, said. “Our goal is to achieve zero cardboard and paper going to landfill after packaging is used.”
The facility is a mile from the company’s packaging plant and alongside its paper mill.
Globally, DS Smith manages more than 5.5 million tons of material for recycling annually.