British multinational packaging manufacturer, DS Smith, is increasing its innovation footprint in the Polish marketplace with an investment of over €25m in its production lines and machinery parks in Kielce, Bełchatów, and Sosnowiec.
These investments are part of DS Smith’s ambitious growth strategy in Central and Eastern Europe and commitment to leading an industry-wide transition to sustainable packaging solutions for customers in the region.
The company has allocated €22m of the overall €25m to the expansion of its packaging facility in Kielce which has been equipped with the highest quality machines. The machinery, including the installation of a new die-cutter Bobst Masterline 2.1, will allow for the greater automatization and precision of production process in the flexography department.
In addition, DS Smith has created a new production line for the DS Smith Easy Bowl solution for fresh food in its Belchatów packaging facility, and the company has invested in machinery to produce sustainable fibre-based paper bags for the ecommerce sector at its packaging facility in Sosnowiec.
Reinier Schlatmann, Regional Managing Director, Packaging Division, Eastern Europe, DS Smith: “We are continuing a series of investments in DS Smith’s operations in Poland and reinforcing our market position in the region. By enhancing our production capabilities, we are able to provide our customers, leading fast-moving consumer goods brands, major retailers, ecommerce entities, and industrial companies, with increased options for recyclable and circular solutions that will help them to achieve their sustainability targets and support consumer demand for sustainable change. In line with this, at DS Smith, we have recently reached a key sustainability milestone by replacing more than one billion pieces of plastic in partnership with our customers in advance of our Now & Next sustainability strategy target that was set for 2025”.
It is anticipated that the investments will enable DS Smith to increase its annual packaging production capacity in Poland by approximately 25 million square meters, and that of glued boxes by 7.5 million square meters. The company is committed to the innovation of sustainable and circular packaging solutions for customers in the region with plastic elimination and CO2 reduction at the forefront of its planning and strategy.
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