DS Smith has recently announced the acquisition of the remaining 50% of the shares of the Italian recovery company Italmaceri Srl («Italmaceri»). DS Smith already owned 50% of the capital of Italmaceri as part of the SCA Packaging acquisition in 2012.
Italmaceri is the second largest company in Italy in the recycling sector and handles over 500,000 tons recycled fibres every year. Turin is the legal and operational headquarters of the company, which has plants also in Ancona, Casarile and Novara. DS Smith managing director Miles Roberts explains: «The acquisition of Italmaceri is in line with DS Smith strategy to establish itself as a leading company in the recycling sector. It reinforces our leading position in Europe and enables us to increase our closed-circuit recycling model in Italia, where we are already active in the paper and packaging field». The managing director of DS Smith Recycling Division Peter McGuinness says that «Italmaceri recycled fibres will provide us with supplies of fibres for our re cycling network, including the DS Smith plant in Lucca. We seized the opportunity to invest further resources in an innovative business, which will help us realize our vision: The Power of Less, i.e. helping our customers to obtain more with the minimum environmental impact and get the most in terms of efficiency through cost reduction».