The corrugated box is made from a single-material solution to offer more protection against challenges faced during e-commerce delivery
The new packaging is less costly, more sustainable and offers more protection during transit. (Credit: DS Smith)
UK-based packaging company DS Smith has unveiled a new sustainable, low-cost cardboard packaging solution for medical devices that is e-commerce compatible.
The new packaging is said to be a more sustainable alternative with additional benefits in terms of cost, protection, and the environment when compared to the traditional glued packaging method that uses a single-use plastic insert.
The corrugated box is made from a single-material solution to offer more protection against challenges faced during e-commerce delivery.
Separately, DS Smith announced the opening of a new Fibre and Paper Development Laboratory at its flagship Kemsley Paper Mill in Kent, UK.
With an investment of £750,000, the lab intends to work with customers to optimise the circularity of their packaging.
The facility will be used for researching technologies that improve the performance and sustainability of packaging.
It will be used to develop technologies that can increase the qualities of fibre-based packaging including coatings and barrier technology, wet-end chemistries, surface chemistries, repulpability, and recyclability.
The lab will provide a platform to research new alternative fibres to use as sustainable raw materials for paper and packaging products.
The company said that it is the most recent addition to its £100m R&D initiative, launched in May 2021, to work in the circular economy.
DS Smith materials development director Nick Thompson said: “Creating products that can easily support the reduction, reuse and recycling of raw materials is a core component of how we will support our customers’ transition to the circular economy.
“At DS Smith, we are constantly developing innovative new thinking to help our customers with this challenge and the new fibre and paper development laboratory allows us to optimise the performance and circularity of our customers’ packaging.
“Investing in research and development projects like this is a crucial way in which we will lead the way and redefine packaging for a changing world.”