Machine-DS-Smith-2024

DS Smith is set to increase its presence in the Polish marketplace with an investment of over €25 million in its production lines and machinery parks in Kielce, Bełchatów, and Sosnowiec.

These investments come as part of DS Smith’s growth strategy in Central and Eastern Europe, through which it hopes to lead what it describes as “an industry-wide transition to sustainable packaging solutions for customers in the region.”

The company has allocated €22 million of the overall €25 million to the expansion of its packaging facility in Kielce. It hopes that new machinery, including the installation of a new die-cutter Bobst Masterline 2.1, will allow for greater automatization and precision of the 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 fibre-based paper bags for the e-commerce sector at its packaging facility in Sosnowiec.

It is anticipated that the investments will enable the company 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.

Reinier Schlatmann, regional managing director of DS Smith’s packaging division in Eastern Europe, comments: “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, e-commerce 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”.

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