ATLANTA (News release) -- DS Smith announced its strong progress in five major corporate ESG ratings in 2021, strengthening its credentials as a sustainable packaging champion and demonstrating its commitment to lead the packaging industry in the transition to a circular economy model.

The announcement comes as the company is placed on CDP's prestigious 'A List' for protecting water resources. CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

DS Smith is acknowledged as a leader on corporate environmental ambition and action through CDP's annual environmental disclosure and scoring process, which is widely recognized as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency. Additionally, DS Smith increased its CDP Climate Change score from 'B' in the previous year to 'A-' this year.

This recognition comes on the heels of DS Smith achieving maximum scores across several categories in the latest S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment.

Earlier this year, DS Smith gained an 'AA' score from MSCI (up from 'A'), a lower risk score from Sustainalytics, a 'Platinum' score from EcoVadis (up from 'Gold') and a score of 67 points on the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (up from 51 points, with maximum scores in several categories).

"The world's economy looks to CDP as the gold standard of environmental reporting, as they compile with the richest and most comprehensive dataset on corporate and city action," said Keith Ledbetter, Managing Director of DS Smith North America. "These five ESG ratings are very important indicators for our customers, investors and other stakeholders, as they show that DS Smith has made measurable gains across our Now and Next sustainability targets this year: closing the loop through better design, protecting natural resources, reducing waste and pollution, driving carbon reduction and equipping people to lead the transition to a circular economy."

DS Smith proactively engages in external assessments to review and improve its performance on environmental, social, and governance issues. In the five ESG ratings it has identified as being most relevant to its investors and customers, it has been recognized for achievements such as its environmental reporting, performance in sustainable procurement, and use of recycled and sustainably sourced materials.

"These rankings show we're on the right track. We will continue to focus on our sustainability targets, making our business more circular and taking ambitious climate action," said Allison Berg, Sustainability Manager for DS Smith North America. "Most importantly, we will help our customers reach their targets, and in the process proving that sustainability isn't just good for the environment, it's good for business."

Through its Now and Next sustainability strategy, DS Smith has set ambitious targets that focus on closing the loop through better design, protecting natural resources by making the most of every fiber, reducing waste and pollution through circular solutions and equipping people to lead the transition to a circular economy. This includes achieving at least a 40% reduction in CO₂e emissions per ton of production compared to 2019, and Net Zero emissions by 2050.