The principles are intended to help companies design reuse and recyclability into their packaging. DS Smith’s circular design principles are: protect brands and products; use no more materials than necessary; design for supply cycle efficiency; and keep packaging materials in use.
The corrugated specialist’s announcement comes as it also revealed research into recycling. In a survey of 2,000 people, conducted by One Poll, it claimed that the “average Brit” throws away 30% of their recyclable goods. It also said that 30% of those surveyed put materials in the recycling bin “despite not knowing if it can be recycled”.
The survey also found that 83% were not clear which types of packaging can and can’t be recycled and 56% cited unclear information on packaging as the reason why they were unsure whether to recycle a piece of packaging or not.
Stefano Rossi, packaging chief executive at DS Smith, said: “There is an undeniable desire from the public to help with the climate crisis, but a lot of packaging is still not recyclable, and people are confused about what packaging goes into which bin.
“We have launched our Circular Design Principles to help companies evolve to meet the needs of the public. By introducing this set of principles, we can design for recyclability, design out waste and pollution, create packaging suited to a circular economy and make it easier to provide labelling to help consumers recycle more.”
TAPPI
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