DS Smith Offers Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Plastic Foam Coolers

Family picnickers, backyard revelers and even road trippers just got an environmental boost. Instead of hauling plastic foam containers that increasingly are being outlawed by cities and states, there’s now a cooler alternative for keeping drinks, food and products cold this outdoor season.

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DS Smith's 100% recyclable Greencoat coolers (Photo: DS Smith)

DS Smith, a leading packaging, paper and recycling company that puts sustainability at the core of everything it does, announced today that it has produced a 100% recyclable cooler, using its proprietary Greencoat corrugated material that’s moisture-resistant and food-contact safe.

Unlike typical plastic foam coolers, Greencoat is biodegradeable, made of sustainable and renewable paper fiber that reduces waste to landfills and carbon emissions. DS Smith’s Greencoat coolers offer fully customizable printing for bespoke branding.

“Our Greencoat cooler is a great example of DS Smith’s innovation and sustainability focus coming together to create a solution that redefines the disposable cooler market, and offers consumers a smart, eco-friendly choice for environments where contents need to stay cold, like on the sunny summer days we all enjoy,” said Melanie Galloway, vice president of Sales, Marketing and Innovation for Packaging at DS Smith North America.

Galloway added, “Polystyrene (Styrofoam) is often swept into rivers and oceans, and is one of the top items found in annual beach cleanups. Foam packaging materials break down into small indigestible pellets, which are mistaken for food by animals. That’s why many more local and state governments are prohibiting their use.”

DS Smith’s purpose is to ‘Redefine Packaging for a Changing World’, and as a Strategic Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, DS Smith focuses on sustainable packaging solutions that contribute to a circular economy through design, recyclability and by keeping products in use for longer.

“DS Smith’s durable Greencoat cooler is the perfect Styrofoam replacement for any outdoor occasion, and keeps food and beverages cold, is fully recyclable, leak-proof, and helps the planet, people and animals,” said Galloway.

During the pandemic, DS Smith has been deemed an essential business and remained in operation, producing thousands of Greencoat boxes that companies have used to supply produce to food banks and nonprofit organizations across North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

About DS Smith:

DS Smith is a leading provider of corrugated packaging worldwide, supported by recycling and papermaking operations. Headquartered in London and a member of the FTSE 100, DS Smith focuses on creating innovative sustainable packaging solutions in 34 countries employing around 30,000 people. Using the combined expertise of its divisions – including Packaging, Recycling, Paper – DS Smith works with customers to deliver solutions that reduce complexity and deliver results throughout the supply chain. Its history can be traced back to the box-making businesses started in the 1940s by the Smith family.

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