DS Smith to phase out coal at French mill

United Kingdom-based recycled-content paperboard and packaging producer DS Smith is making a 90 million euro ($98.5 million) investment that will allow it to phase out the use of coal at its paper mill in Rouen, France.

The investment to transform the Normandy region paper mill’s energy supply includes replacing a coal-fired boiler with a new biomass boiler that will reduce the site’s emissions by 99,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.

The new 56 megawatt (MW) boiler provided by Finland-based Valmet Oyj will be able to supply at least 80 percent of the site’s heat demand and will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2025, DS Smith says.

The new power plant will be fueled by 94,000 metric tons of biofuel, 30 percent of which DS Smith says will come from plant byproducts such as pulper residuals and 70 percent from scrap wood sources such as furniture and demolition materials.

France-based Engie Solutions will operate the boiler, which will allow for the possibility for the future installation of a steam turbine capable of producing around 10 MW of electricity with a maximum steam supply of 65 tons per hour, according to the companies.

The North American business unit of Engie is cooperating with on another alternative power project with a paperboard producer in the United States. This month, WestRock announced it would procure solar power from two arrays in Texas operated by Engie.

The DS Smith project was granted approval by a Normandy regional biomass effort in 2022 and is supported by local authorities including a $16.4 million subsidy from the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), says the paperboard producer. 

“As with all our operations, delivering large-scale carbon reduction initiatives is a key focus for DS Smith as we look to deliver both our immediate and long-term sustainability targets,” says Niels Flierman, head of paper and recycling at DS Smith.

“Through the transition away from coal and the installation of a new biomass-from-waste boiler, we will deliver significant CO₂ savings to not only help our own operations, but the operations of our customers through their Scope 3 emissions.”

Flierman calls the Rouen paper mill a central part of its European operations and an important producer of recycled paper in France, playing a key role in providing the corrugated packaging need to help replace "problem plastics.”

Acquired by DS Smith in 2019, the paper mill in Rouen was founded in 1928 and is the first mill in France to produce lightweight recycled-content fluting, used to make corrugated board. The site also produces light, medium and dual-purpose papers for consumer goods and e-commerce packaging, with an annual production capacity of 280,000 metric tons.

In addition to the biomass boiler, two new gas-fired boilers will complete the replacement boiler fleet, which already consists of an existing gas-fired boiler.

The company says the French project is one of a number of initiatives it has in Europe and North America that contribute to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 46 percent in absolute terms by 2030, compared with 2019 levels, and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

DS Smith says it participating in the Science-Based Targets (SBTi) initiative to meet an emissions reduction level target in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The company also a member of the United Nations-led Race to Zero campaign.