DS Smith and Kent County Council announce new recycling partnership

DS Smith, the leading sustainable packaging company and one of Europe’s largest recyclesr of paper and cardboard, has announced a strategic partnership with Kent County Council to recycle 15,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard a year. The recycling partnership will be delivered through DS Smith’s Paper Mill in Kemsley Kent, the largest mill for recycled papers in the UK.

The Council is working towards reducing waste and increasing its recycling rates, which currently stands slightly above the UK average. As part of this strategic programme, it will be supported by DS Smith’s Recycling Division with a focus on securing high quality paper for recycling to be used in the Kemsley mill.

To ensure the highest quality materials for recycling, Kent County Council is working with the County’s Collection Authorities to reduce contamination of its recycling collections where paper and card is collected separately. State of the art quality monitoring processes at DS Smith’s paper mills have shown that contamination of paper and cardboard significantly increases when it is mixed with other recyclables such as plastic, glass and cans at the point of collection

Sian Farrell, business development and contract manager for DS Smith’s Recycling Division, said: ‘We are delighted to start a new recycling partnership with Kent County Council and are looking forward to working to reduce waste and increase recycling. Our innovative solutions, closed loop model and account management will help to further reduce contamination, improve quality and ultimately push recycling rates even higher in the region.’

David Beaver, for Kent County Council, added: ‘Our partnership with DS Smith to provide recycling services for our paper and cardboard will support our efforts towards reaching our recycling targets. This is a new and exciting venture where we look forward to establishing a relationship with the Kemsley Paper Mill to improve Recycling in Kent. Its expertise in recycling and the location of the site within Kent County was an important factor in investing in this new partnership.’

Cardboard and paper received from Kent County Council will contribute to over 840,000 tonnes of material that is recycled every year at Kemsley Paper Mill. Recycled papers from the mill form part of DS Smith’s closed loop recycling model, providing packaging for retail and e-commerce sectors.