Paper Recycling firm announes $5 million investment in recycling facilities

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): DS Smith, the UK’s largest paper recycling firm has announced investment of USD 5 million at its recycling facilities. The proposed investment will relocate two of its recycling plants, in line with the company’s infrastructure reorganization plan. The company noted that the investments will be made in company’s facilities in the Southwest of England and East London, which are currently going through the planning process. The proposed changes to facilities are expected to boost the company’s customer reach and processing capabilities in a significant manner.

The East London site will relocate to share a site with the company’s mill in Maidstone. The relocation will help the company to increase its coverage across the South East, while continuing to service the London area as well. The company’s West London recycling site will remain unaffected. Matthew Prosser, DS Smith Recycling’s U.K. managing director noted that the investment will help to improve material management at the facility due to its proximity with Maidstone mill.

Also, the company’s recycling facility in the Southwest of England will relocate from Keynsham to Avonmouth. The relocation will facilitate enhanced access to its customer base throughout Wales and the South, especially in key commercial areas of Cardiff, Bristol, Swindon and Gloucester. The Avonmouth site, being a perfect logistics hub, provides scope for improved recycling operations, noted Prosser. Both the investments are expected to be completed during the first half of 2017. The new facilities are expected to become fully operational by spring 2017.

The investments will empower DS Smith to handle wider range of fibers and expand its recycling processing services beyond fibers. Incidentally, the company collects and supplies in excess of two million tonnes of fibres in the UK every year, which are mainly fed to its Kemsley recycled paperboard mill.

The UK’s largest paper manufacturing and recycling business had recently appointed Jochen Behr as the new Head of Recycling, from February 27^th, 2017. The appointment is considered as part of DS Smith’s strategy to strengthen its activities in continental Europe by pursuing an aggressive growth strategy.

The company had recently announced investment of approximately €2.6 million in the injection moulding plant in Bilzen-Belgium towards addition of four production lines, which in turn is expected to enhance the plants’ production capacity by almost 50%. The installation of the newest generation of injection moulding machines is expected to trigger development of new products for diversified markets including pharmaceuticals, agriculture and cosmetics. The investment which created 8 new jobs, had also helped the company to achieve 40% additional energy-efficiency.

Earlier in January this year, DS Smith had announced successful completion of acquisition of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA-based Parish Manufacturing Inc.- a leading US manufacturer and supplier of bag-in-box systems.

DS Smith is a leading provider of corrugated packaging in Europe, having presence in 36 countries and employing around 26,000 people.