DS Smith enhances production capabilities with US$6.47M investment in France

FRANCE – DS Smith, a leading provider of fiber-based sustainable packaging, has announced a €6 million (US$6.47m) investment in its La Chevrolière facility, strategically located near Nantes in the west of France.

This investment has facilitated a 4,000-square-meter expansion of the production space to meet the growing demand for sustainable corrugated cardboard from both existing and prospective customers in the region.

The newly installed equipment at the facility includes a Bobst Mastercut 2.1 die-cut machine and a production line for cardboard pallets.

A 2,500m² workshop is now dedicated to producing Kaypal cardboard pallets. It boasts an initial capacity of 250,000 units and the potential to ramp up production to 1.5 million pallets annually.

The Kaypal pallet offers several advantages, including full recyclability, an ultra-lightweight design (it weighs just 3.5kg), ergonomic features, hygiene, cost-effectiveness, and reusability.

It is designed to significantly reduce carbon emissions during transportation, offering an efficient, compact solution for minimizing environmental impacts.

These pallets are particularly suited for road and air transportation of products, flooring, point-of-sale (POS) displays, pallet boxes for bulk storage, and interlayer pallets for order preparation in retail logistics centers.

Thibault Laumonier, Regional Managing Director of DS Smith in France, highlighted the project’s alignment with the company’s sustainability goals: “At DS Smith Packaging France, we recognize that innovation and environmental stewardship must go hand in hand.

“This philosophy is central to our Now and Next sustainability strategy and our mission to redefine packaging for a changing world. Launching our new Kaypal cardboard pallet production workshop in La Chevrolière is a step forward in helping our regional customers transition to a circular economy by offering sustainable packaging solutions that significantly reduce CO2 emissions throughout the supply chain.

“We are setting new industry standards in sustainable packaging and building a future that respects the environment.”

The DS Smith La Chevrolière packaging facility, established in 2010, employs 170 people and features state-of-the-art technology, including various robots and fully automated machinery.

The packaging solutions produced here are distributed within a 150km radius, primarily serving clients in the food industry.

Early this month, DS Smith partnered with Bioenzymatic Fuel Cells (BeFC), a company at the forefront of developing fully recyclable smart tags, aiming to accelerate the development of intelligent packaging solutions.

This collaboration is a critical component of DS Smith’s £100 million (US$125.18m) investment in research and development (R&D) and innovation, announced in 2021.

The investment underscores DS Smith’s commitment to advancing the circular economy and producing packaging with reduced environmental impact.

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