It started with curiosity 

In 2019, the DS Smith Sustain® journey began with curiosity to find out "what is the difference between white and brown board?". They used the Sustain® tool to compare the differences between their materials and display components.

Board grades - DS Smith wanted to identify and compare the different board grades used in POS.

Recycled content - The findings were put to the test with a display made from 100% recycled content. 

Sustain® reporting - DS Smith started sharing reports to clients during quarterly business reviews. 

Removing plastics from supermarket shelves

In 2020, DS Smith announced its 'Now & Next' strategy, with a key target to remove 1 billion plastics from supermarket shelves. This led to Sustain® being used with a plastic reduction perspective reviewing and challenging retailer guidelines identifying areas for plastic reduction. 

Remove - Mop trays removed from ASDA guidelines through vigorous tests and trials.

Replace - Millions of plastic POS components with alternative solutions.

Reduce - Tonnes of packaging plastics by challenging supplier materials.

Embedding Sustain® within circular design principles

DS Smith now uses Sustain® in two different ways: comparing designs; and creating benchmark data for different materials. 

To increase awareness to sustainability issues across their customer base DS Smith launched their Circular Design Principles which gives their designers the tools to create POS responsibly. 

Awareness - Circular design champions share the tools they use to compare solutions.

Culture - Circular design and a sustainability focus is the new normal across their business and customer base. 

Automation - Sustainability data from Sustain® is integrated within their own client portal giving clients automated results within their rate card displays.

In fact, DS Smith are continuing their sustainability journey by asking how they can support their customers to produce POS displays that reuse waste and preserve natural resources. They are currently investigating producing POS using alternative fibres such as grass, cocoa husk and agricultural waste.