Human Rights & Community

Statement of support

Our commitment to respect and support human rights extends to our suppliers, business partners, and the wider communities within our sphere of influence. Our human rights approach is aligned with universally accepted international and regional human rights instruments and we subscribe to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have embedded these elements in our Code of Conduct, which has an enhanced focus on human and labour rights. These issues have also been integrated into our social responsibility guidelines, supplier sustainability requirements and due diligence guidelines for new investments.

These frameworks shape our approach to human and labour rights and serve as guiding standards when we work in regions where related local regulations are assessed as weak or non-existent.

DS Smith subscribes to the following international standards and guidelines:

  • United Nations Global Compact.
  • United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • International Labour Organization (ILO) eight Fundamental Conventions.
  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Principles by which community investments are made

The DS Smith Charitable Foundation supports charities engaged in conservation of the environment and providing training or educational opportunities.

The DS Smith Charitable Foundation principally seeks ideas for partnering with charities from its employees. We also accept applications for donations from third parties. Please note that only charities in the fields of environmental improvement and of education and training, will be considered. 

Take the Supply Cycle challenge

Effective recycling and waste management has long been in the public sector spotlight.

Rethinking your Supply Cycle could enhance your environmental standing at the same time as bringing significant cost savings. What's more, a highly auditable trail improves transparency and can help overcome media stories reporting the ineffectiveness of recycling schemes.

Councils need creative solutions to help overcome the legislative pressures of waste management with less staff, less money and more targets to meet.

Local authorities are facing a tough and complex set of pressures. Rising demand for services amid economic growth challenges are an enduring theme. Budget cuts have been introduced, further cuts are expected and councils are continually being asked to do more with less.

Environmental concerns are highly political and the legislative pressures ever present: The UK is required to meet 50% recycling by 2020. Many councils will need to work hard to collect and recycle more materials.
The publication of the UK Waste Prevention Programme (December 2013) will put even greater focus on waste reduction and reuse nationally.

Councils need to be able to work with individual authorities on creative solutions that balance the public and government interests. 

A strategic service provider with the right equipment and complete Supply Cycle approach to tackling waste management in the public eye can offer the best kind of support.

Our ability to deliver a zero-waste solution to major retailers is a significant competitive advantage. Our closed loop recycling model is at the core of this strategy. All of our mills currently use 100 per cent recovered papers as their primary raw material. This is usually a mixture of old corrugated cases, recycled newspapers and magazines.

We do not consider this to be waste; we recognise it as a valuable resource which we collect, sort, pulp and convert through an extremely efficient network. High paper recovery rates and the quality of recovered paper streams are of great strategic interest to us. Our recycling business manages over 10,000 supply contracts with national retailers, local authorities and communities, and we promote the most appropriate recycling and recovery system for all our customers.

This makes good economic sense due to the value of the materials, which more than covers the cost of their collection. Every tonne of recycled fibre offsets the need to harvest a tonne of virgin raw material. Recycled fibres are turned into new packaging within 14 days.

Forestry

DS Smith requires its paper and pulp suppliers to use timber and fresh fibre based on materials that originates only from known non-controversial sources. Timber and fresh fibre based materials from the following types of sources is not accepted: 

  • Illegally logged timber 
  • Timber from areas where human rights or the traditional rights of indigenous peoples are being violated 
  • Timber from high conservation value forests 

Human rights risk assessment for new and existing operations

Our commitment to respect and support human rights extends to our suppliers, business partners, and the wider communities within our sphere of influence. Our human rights approach is aligned with universally accepted international and regional human rights instruments and we subscribe to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We have embedded these elements in our Code of Conduct, which has an enhanced focus on human and labour rights. These issues have also been integrated into our social responsibility guidelines, supplier sustainability requirements and due diligence guidelines for new investments. These frameworks shape our approach to human and labour rights and serve as guiding standards when we work in regions where related local regulations are assessed as weak or non-existent.

Stakeholder engagement to verify the human rights risks and impacts

In 2015, DS Smith introduced questionnaires regarding the Human Rights impacts of our operations as part of our CSR program. These questionnaires were addressed to the senior responsible person at each of our operational sites, and they were asked to respond to all questions. We have received a response from every site.

We will be collating the significant findings of this survey and begin the process of engaging with senior leadership on any highlighted issues from 2016.

Grievance mechanisms in place for individuals impacted by business activities

All our employees are encouraged to report suspected misconduct or unethical behaviour directly to their own supervisor, Human Resources or the Group General Counsel. Our employees may also report their concerns in confidentiality to a dedicated hotline, an external service through which anyone can confidentially and anonymously report any issues.

DS Smith uses the GRI G4 methodology to monitor it's Sustainability performance and as part of that framework we are required to monitor how many of our sites have grievance mechanisms in place, as well as their efficacy.

DS Smith is a corporate member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX) and we share supply chain data with our customers and third party auditors.

DS Smith is a member of Sedex, a not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to driving improvements in ethical and responsible business practices in global supply chains. As the largest collaborative platform for sharing ethical supply chain data, Sedex is an innovative and effective supply chain management solution, helping DS Smith to reduce risk, protect our company reputation and improve supply chain practices.

Sedex has two main aims:

  • To ease the burden on suppliers facing multiple audits, questionnaires and certifications.
  • To drive improvements in the ethical performance of global supply chains.

The core system is a secure, online database which allows members to store, share and report on information in four key areas:

  • Labour standards
  • Health & Safety
  • Environment
  • Business ethics

Employee engagement and involvement with charitable partners

During the past year DS Smith has become the primary sponsor of Keep Britain Tidy's Green Flag Award scheme.

DS Smith has pledged to volunteer and fundraise, supporting the development of green spaces and the Green Flag Award for communities and businesses in the UK across all its sites.

Amount of donations and community investments made.

It is DS Smith policy not to disclose the size of an award or donation unless the recipient wishes publicise the amount themselves.

In 2016/17 donations of £311,000 were made via the DS Smith Charitable Foundation.