DS Smith becomes ‘net positive recycler’

Sustainable packaging provider DS Smith has just announced it is the first integrated packaging manufacturer to become a ‘net positive recycler’, meaning it is involved in recycling a greater volume of materials than it manufactures.

Its recycling division has collected, sorted, reprocessed or transported over 5.1 million tonnes of material in 2018.

Miles Roberts, Group CEO, commented: “Our industry-leading position as a net positive recycler is a particular area of pride and we recognise that our materials need to be both recyclable in theory and recycled in practice.”

DS Smith’s most recent annual sustainability report, ‘Redefining Packaging for a Changing World’, highlights the company’s sustainability goals, including its aim to manufacture 100 per cent reusable or recyclable packaging by 2025 and to send less than one per cent of its packaging division waste to landfill by 2030.

According to the report, it is on track to meet these targets, taking steps such as the development of box designs that eliminate adhesive plastic tape, a material that poses problems for fibre recycling.

The company has also identified five key areas in the supermarket aisle that could remove 1.5 million tonnes of plastic in Europe alone and is working with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) to, as EMF founder Dame Ellen MacArthur says, identify “opportunities to redesign materials, business models and problematic waste streams to create solutions that are aligned with the principles of the circular economy” and to implement systemic change across the industry.

DS Smith’s full 2019 sustainability report can on the digital publishing platform Issuu.

UPM recognised as top Global Compact LEAD

The United Nations (UN) has recognised Finnish forestry industry company UPM as one of 36 UN Global Compact LEAD participants demonstrating outstanding commitment to the Global Compact, a global corporate responsibility initiative.

“LEAD companies represent the highest level of engagement with the UN Global Compact. More than ever before, the world needs businesses of all sizes – like the ones announced as LEAD today – that continuously work to improve their sustainability performance and take action to build a better world,” says Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

UPM has been a LEAD participant of the UN Global Compact since 2016, having participated in the required number of two Global Compact Action Platforms. UPM was involved in ‘Reporting on the SDGs’ and ‘Decent work in global supply chains’. Now the company will be addressed at the Global Compact Leaders summit in New York as one of 36 organisations demonstrating strong commitment to the UN Global Compact and its Ten Principles for responsible business.

Sami Lundgren, Responsibility Vice President at UPM, added: “We have taken a deep look into the strategic connections between our operations and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. The focus of UPM Biofore Beyond Fossils thinking is on promoting actions where we can have the largest impact – either by minimising our negative impacts or by increasing the positive impacts.”

More information on UN Global Compact LEAD participants can be found on the initiative's website, while more information about UPM can be found on the company’s website.

Axion renews ISO certification

Plastic processing company, Axion Polymers, has successfully renewed its ISO 9001 management system certification – an internationally recognised standard of quality – at its two recycling sites in Manchester. Its Salford facility has also gained a new ISO 18001 Health and Safety standard.

Axion recovers plastics from end-of-life-vehicles (auto shredder waste) and waste electrical goods, refining them into engineering polymers. The company works with a range of clients within the recycling and process industries, developing new plastic processing and collection methods.

Based on seven quality principles, ISO 9001 certification covers all aspects of the plants’ operations, from manufacture to supply and customer service.

Axion’s General Manager Judith Clayman said: “Achieving this standard at both sites is a key goal for our company. The Health and Safety of our employees, subcontractors and visitors is our highest priority from their first footstep on site and subsequently throughout our entire operation.

“I am delighted that the whole team’s hard work has been rewarded with the certification. It demonstrates that robust implementation of policies, procedures and controls is in place to achieve excellent working conditions and workplace health and safety across the whole business. We will now be focussing our efforts on achieving ISO 45001, the new enhanced Health and Safety standard.”

Axion’s environmental policy can be read on the company’s website.

Imran Magre appointed as Vanden’s new Business Development Manager

Plastic specialists, Vanden Recycling, has appointed a new Business Development Manager, Imran Magre, whose commercial background is in plastic recycling.

Vanden UK’s Managing Director David Wilson commented: “I couldn’t be more pleased that Imran Magre has joined the Vanden team. Imran has significant experience in the purchasing of scrap plastic and is servicing our waste management and recycler suppliers in the north of England.”

As well as concentrating on the waste management sector, Magre’s previous knowledge will help the company develop partnerships with plastic sheet converters, particularly producers of credit and loyalty cards, flower label printers and bespoke packaging companies.

Magre stated: “I hope to consolidate the great reputation Vanden has by continuing to build strong relationships with key stakeholders across the region.”

He added: “It’s clear that our ability to offer quick and reliable collections of split loads meets the needs of waste managers. Our positioning in the trading markets means that we reprocess an extremely wide range of polymers and enabling waste managers to maximise their yard space.”

More information about Vanden Recycling can be found on the company’s website.

Cromwell Polythene beach clean indicates litter reduction

A group of ten volunteers from Cromwell Polythene took to their local beach at Filey on the North Yorkshire on 14 September to participate in a beach clean and litter survey on behalf of the Great British Beach Clean, and to mark the Waste and Resource Action Programme’s (WRAP) 17th annual Recycle Week (23–29 September).

The volunteers used sustainable litter clearance hand tools from Helping Hand Environmental to collect 346 items from two beach sections of 500 metres each.

The waste weighed approximately 16 kilogrammes and was made up of eleven main types of rubbish: plastic and polystyrene, rubber, cloth, paper and cardboard, wood, metal, glass, pottery and ceramics, sanitary waste, food, and miscellaneous waste.

125 pieces of plastic were collected, including straws, bottles, caps and plastic bag fragments, in comparison to 229 pieces collected in the same area during last year’s beach clean.

James Lee, Managing Director of Cromwell Polythene said: “We were pleased to see that the scale of littering has reduced compared to previous years’ analyses. It’s very encouraging that people are showing concern for the environment and the impacts that our actions have. We all want to see the recovery, reuse and recycling of every type of packaging and it is vital that we work together to find solutions to protect our environment, combat climate change, keep products in use for as long as possible, and prevent leakage of valuable resources from the circular economy.”

You can learn more about the Great British Beach Clean on the Marine Conservation Society’s website.

Read more about Cromwell Polythene on the company’s website.