On April 11, DS Smith inaugurated the brand-new facilities at the DS Smith Packaging Atlantique plant near Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique region of France. For an investment "significant" 6 million for the British paper manufacturer, the La Chevrolière cardboard and packaging plant, which employs 170 people, has extended its production space by 4,000 m 2 and was equipped with new machinery, including a cardboard pallet production line.
DS Smith Packaging France CEO Thibault Laumonier, together with MP Yannick Haury, presented the brand new 2,500 m 2 dedicated to the production of Kaypal corrugated pallets. With a capacity of 250,000 pallets, it will eventually be able to produce 1.5 million units a year.
The Kaypal range of pallets is designed to replace traditional wooden pallets and respond to CSR challenges, including improved working conditions and reduced carbon impact. Capable of carrying loads of up to 1,000 kg, they are recyclable and much lighter (only 3.5 kg for certain models, compared with around 25 kg for wooden versions).
Two other DS Smith sites produce pallets for the Kaypal range: Saint-Just-en-Chaussée in the Oise region and Kunheim in the Haut-Rhin region.
Thibault Laumonier states in a press release: "At DS Smith Packaging France, we are convinced that innovation and respect for the environment go hand in hand. The opening of our new Kaypal cardboard pallet production facility in La Chevrolière is a perfect illustration of this conviction."
The investment also includes the installation of a new Mastercut flat-bed die-cutting machine from Swiss manufacturer Bobst.
