DS Smith Soars in Five Leading ESG Ratings

DS Smith announced today its strong progress in five major corporate ESG ratings in 2021, strengthening its credentials as a sustainable packaging champion and demonstrating its commitment to lead the packaging industry in the transition to a circular economy model.

The announcement comes as the company is placed on CDP’s prestigious ‘A List’ for protecting water resources. CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

DS Smith is acknowledged as a leader on corporate environmental ambition and action through CDP’s annual environmental disclosure and scoring process, which is widely recognized as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency. Additionally, DS Smith increased its CDP Climate Change score from ‘B’ in the previous year to ‘A-‘ this year.

This recognition comes on the heels of DS Smith achieving maximum scores across several categories in the latest S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment.

Earlier this year, DS Smith gained an ‘AA’ score from MSCI (up from ‘A’), a lower risk score from Sustainalytics, a ‘Platinum’ score from EcoVadis (up from ‘Gold’) and a score of 67 points on the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (up from 51 points, with maximum scores in several categories).

“The world’s economy looks to CDP as the gold standard of environmental reporting, as they compile with the richest and most comprehensive dataset on corporate and city action,” said Keith Ledbetter, Managing Director of DS Smith North America. “These five ESG ratings are very important indicators for our customers, investors and other stakeholders, as they show that DS Smith has made measurable gains across our Now and Next sustainability targets this year: closing the loop through better design, protecting natural resources, reducing waste and pollution, driving carbon reduction and equipping people to lead the transition to a circular economy.”

DS Smith proactively engages in external assessments to review and improve its performance on environmental, social, and governance issues. In the five ESG ratings it has identified as being most relevant to its investors and customers, it has been recognized for achievements such as its environmental reporting, performance in sustainable procurement, and use of recycled and sustainably sourced materials.

“These rankings show we’re on the right track. We will continue to focus on our sustainability targets, making our business more circular and taking ambitious climate action,” said Allison Berg, Sustainability Manager for DS Smith North America. “Most importantly, we will help our customers reach their targets, and in the process proving that sustainability isn’t just good for the environment, it’s good for business.”

Through its Now and Next sustainability strategy, DS Smith has set ambitious targets that focus on closing the loop through better design, protecting natural resources by making the most of every fiber, reducing waste and pollution through circular solutions and equipping people to lead the transition to a circular economy. This includes achieving at least a 40% reduction in CO₂e emissions per ton of production compared to 2019, and Net Zero emissions by 2050.

About DS Smith

DS Smith is a leading provider of sustainable fiber-based packaging worldwide, which is supported by recycling and papermaking operations. It plays a central role in the value chain across sectors including e-commerce, fast moving consumer goods and industrials. Through its purpose of ‘Redefining Packaging for a Changing World’ and its Now and Next sustainability strategy, DS Smith is committed to leading the transition to the circular economy, while delivering more circular solutions for its customers and wider society – replacing problem plastics, taking carbon out of supply chains and providing innovative recycling solutions. Its bespoke box-to-box in 14 days model, design capabilities and innovation strategy sits at the heart of this response. Headquartered in London and a member of the FTSE 100, DS Smith operates in 34 countries employing around 30,000 people and is a Strategic Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Its history can be traced back to the box-making businesses started in the 1940s by the Smith family.

North American operations are headquartered in Atlanta, with 15 packaging, paper and recycling facilities, totaling more than 2,000 employees. Using the combined expertise of its divisions – including Packaging, Recycling, Paper – DS Smith works with customers to develop solutions that reduce complexity and deliver results throughout the supply chain.

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