London, England 02 October 2014 -- The Recycling Division (of Middleton Paper) currently generates circa 9,000 tonnes a year of fibre, and deals with a wide range of paper and cardboard grades. The Division was part of Middleton Paper which remains an independent merchant and converter based in Walsall, West Midlands. It has been established for 38 years and is part of the Middleton Group.

Peter McGuinness, Chief Executive of DS Smith, Recycling Division said: "The Birmingham region is a key industrial and commercial area and the purchase of Middleton Recycling will allow us to target material and grow our presence here. It is a strategic fit for growing our business and extends our coverage in the area."

As the largest fibre recycler in Europe, DS Smith recovers circa 5.4 million tonnes of paper and packaging annually for recycling. Recovered packaging (and other fibre grades) provide the raw materials used in production by the Group's paper making operations.

DS Smith is part of a multinational group employing over 20,000 people with revenue exceeding £4 billion. It is the largest integrated paper and packaging company in the UK and the second largest packaging company in Europe. The Recycling Division provides the collection infrastructure to recover packaging and supplies it to the Packaging Division for further use.

Last year DS Smith Plc unified its global operations under one brand, DS Smith. This brought together the four main pillars of operation, Paper, Packaging, Recycling and Plastics, to align customer offerings under one purpose that reflects the major transformation the company has gone through in the last few years.