DS Smith commits US$54M to enhance packaging facilities in Portugal

PORTUGAL – DS Smith has invested over €50 million (US$54.23 million) in its packaging facilities in Portugal to meet the growing demand for sustainable fiber-based packaging solutions.

This investment aims to upgrade technology and incorporate renewable energy solutions across its facilities.

Key upgrades include acquiring two top-of-the-range fluting machines for the packaging facilities in Oporto and Leiria.

Additionally, the corrugator unit at the Lisbon facility has been enhanced by installing a 2,800mm (approximately 9.19 ft) wide Dry End.

The company has also invested in a large processing machine tailored for the heavy-duty market. This machine is designed to transport heavy, large, or bulky products in the industrial and agricultural sectors.

DS Smith’s e-commerce customers will benefit from upgraded machinery that produces padded paper envelopes. The company’s designers have also developed a sustainable fiber-based alternative to plastic bubble wrap.

Investments in renewable energy include installing solar panels at the Esmoriz, Leiria, and Lisbon facilities, which are expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 34% annually.

DS Smith’s Packaging Division in Portugal operates six factories in Guilhabreu, Esmoriz, Águeda, Carregal do Sal, Leiria, and Lisbon, along with a logistics center in Madeira.

DS Smith launches PackRight 2.0

Meanwhile, the company has launched PackRight 2.0, a hybrid workshop collaboration for industry professionals.

The new offering features interactive classes to help businesses in FMCG, e-commerce, and other industries innovate and enhance the sustainability of their packaging using DS Smith’s Circular Design Metrics.

The workshops, hosted at the company’s PackRight Centers in the US cities of Reading and Lebanon, bring DS Smith’s designers and engineers together with customers to develop design solutions that boost packaging efficiency, effectiveness, appeal and sustainability.

The new workshops are the first in the US packaging and design space to employ advanced visual content platform solutions from French collaboration tech start-up Klaxoon.

The collaborative sessions streamline the design process by combining creativity, strategic insights, and technology. They reduce the time, effort, and expense required to create new packaging that addresses brands’ growing circularity needs.

“Our PackRight Centers integrate circularity with design, improving the process needed to bring inspiration from the drawing board to the factory floor,” says Steven Rose, managing director for Packaging at DS Smith North America.

“No longer just for in-person collaboration, our new PackRight design workshops enable all customers interested in reducing their environmental impact to take advantage of DS Smith’s design and engineering expertise and our proven Circular Design Metrics process.”

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