Reusable, water-resistant, food contact safe boxes from leading sustainable packaging manufacturer give consumers an alternative to plastic bags

Shop.able Carriers, a line of recyclable, reusable boxes for supermarkets that replaces plastic shopping bags, are now available to deliver consumers a more sustainable and convenient packaging solution for everyday grocery shopping. The durable, stackable boxes – designed and manufactured by sustainable fiber-based packaging leader DS Smith – feature the company’s patented, food-safe, and water-resistant Greencoat^® coating technology, giving consumers an affordable alternative to hard-to-recycle plastic bags. Shop.able Carriers are reusable, moisture-resistant, modular, and 100% recyclable made from renewable resources.

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DS Smith, a global fiber-based packaging company, launches Shop.able Carriers, a line of recyclable, reusable boxes for supermarkets that replaces plastic bags and delivers consumers a more sustainable and convenient packaging solution for everyday grocery shopping. (Photo: Business Wire)

Shop.able’s first user, a regional U.S. supermarket chain, is on pace to replace up to 100,000 plastic bags in its first year of selling the boxes in its stores. Supermarkets can create custom branded boxes, as well as incorporate sponsored logos and messaging from other partner brands. Individual Shop.able Carrier boxes sell at retail price points similar to reusable plastic totes, with each box having the capacity to replace between 5 and 7 plastic bags. Along with having them in checkout retail sales, supermarkets can also use Shop.able Carriers as a loyalty program benefit in online curbside pick-up orders.

“The Shop.able Carrier product line gives consumers the ability to help remove the billions plastic bags used across the United States each year while at the same time delivering convenience and sustainability to consumers’ day-to-day shopping experience,” said DS Smith Global Customer Business Unit Director Steve Cooper. “This kind of innovative, sustainable packing solution is what more communities need to stem the tide of hard-to-recycle plastics and move away from single-use plastic bags.”

DS Smith’s North America Packaging and Paper (NAPP) division produces Shop.able Carriers at its U.S. specialty packaging plants. Company designers developed the intuitive, shopper-friendly box product line by reworking industrial packaging solutions DS Smith NAPP uses in the poultry and produce industries.

Shoppers can switch from single-use to circularity

According to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission, Americans use 102 billion plastic bags a year¹, and plastic shopping bags are only used for an average of 12 minutes by consumers, with very few of them ever being recycled. The new product comes at a time when many are closely examining the impact single-use plastic has on the environment. To date, 18 U.S. states have enacted legislation to ban plastic bags, and major retailers have joined the Beyond the Bag initiative, a group seeking to identify, test and implement viable design solutions and models that more sustainably serve the purpose of the current retail bag.

According to the organizations Beyond Plastics and the Last Beach Cleanup, less than 6% of U.S. plastic waste is recycled each year.² Of the total volume of all plastics produced worldwide since the 1950s, only 9% of it has been recycled.³

Driving circularity and reducing waste

In partnership with its customers, DS Smith lives by its purpose of Redefining Packaging for a Changing World, a key part of which is to support the transition to a circular economy – eliminating waste and pollution by design. By creating 100% recyclable or reusable packaging and helping its customers design out hard-to-recycle plastics, the company is keeping materials in use for longer.

Driven by its Now and Next sustainability strategy and partnering with customers, DS Smith has already replaced 762 million problem plastics with fiber-based alternatives since 2020, and is on pace to beat a goal of one billion plastics replaced by 2025. DS Smith has also created more than 30,000 circular-ready projects for its customers through its industry-leading Circular Design Metrics, a design analysis tool that helps customers drive sustainability performance.

For more information about Shop.able Carriers, visit: www.dssmith.com/us.

About DS Smith

DS Smith is a leading provider of sustainable fiber-based packaging worldwide, which is supported by recycling and papermaking operations. It plays a central role in the value chain across sectors including e-commerce, fast moving consumer goods and industrials. Through its purpose of “Redefining Packaging for a Changing World” and its Now and Next sustainability strategy, DS Smith is committed to leading the transition to the circular economy, while delivering more circular solutions for its customers and wider society – replacing problem plastics, taking carbon out of supply chains and providing innovative recycling solutions. Its bespoke box-to-box in 14 days model, design capabilities and innovation strategy sit at the heart of this response.

Headquartered in London and a member of the FTSE 100, DS Smith operates in 34 countries employing around 30,000 people and is a Strategic Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Its history can be traced back to the box-making businesses started in the 1940s by the Smith family. North American operations are based in Atlanta, with 15 manufacturing, paper and recycling facilities, totaling approximately 2,000 employees. DS Smith reports company progress across its climate targets in its Sustainability and Annual Reports.

¹ U.S. International Trade Commission, “Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam”

² Beyond Plastics and the Last Beach Cleanup, “The Real Truth About the U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate,” May 2022.

³ Geyer, Roland; Jambeck, Jenna; and Lavender Law, Kara, “Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made,” Science Advances, Vol. 3, No. 7.

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