DS Smith starts trial with straw and grain

DS Smith is working in partnership with the environmental research start-up Nafici on a way to produce packaging from so-called „second harvest“ materials. The project is DS Smith's response to demand from companies seeking a more circular approach to their supply chains.
DS Smith trial paper production with straw DS Smith trial paper production with straw
DS Smith and NER are launching a trial to produce paper from waste products such as straw and spent grain in order to save virgin fibres. (Image: DS Smith)

DS Smith works in In partnership with the environmental research start-up Nafici, DS Smith is working on a way to produce packaging from so-called „second harvest“ materials. With this project, DS Smith is responding to demand from companies seeking a more circular approach to their supply chains.

According to the research team at DS Smith, waste products such as straw and spent grain, a material produced during the brewing of beer, have the potential to save up to 10 per cent of the virgin fibres used in the paper manufacturing process. This means they could Important and realisable addition to the conventionally used raw materials represent.

The British research institute Nafici Environmental Research (NER) has developed a process to convert agricultural waste into a raw material that can be used for paper production. DS Smith is using its state-of-the-art research and development centre in Kemsley, UK, to investigate how the compound developed by Nafici from previously unused waste products can be used to produce sustainable packaging.

„DS Smith has built a reputation as a pioneer of innovation in recycling, including through the investment in our Fibre & Paper Development Lab at the Kemsley site and now through the ongoing partnership with Nafici. Companies are interested in how they can Making supply chains more circular can. The search for secondary uses for materials that are currently considered waste can be a decisive factor here.“

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Nick Thompson, Materials Development Director at DS Smith

Source: DS Smith