Sonoco Recycling and Richland County Accepting Additional Materials

HARTSVILLE, SC – November 28, 2012 – Sonoco Recycling, LLC, aunit of Sonoco (NYSE: SON), has invested $4 million in its Columbia,S.C., materials recovery facility (MRF), allowing the facility to acceptadditional types of materials. Because of this, Richland Countyresidents will now be able to recycle more of their household materialssuch as composite cans, glass, magazines and other types of plastics.

Sonoco Recycling has added three sorting screens for corrugatedcardboard and paper sorting, an optical sorter to retrieve plastic, and anew glass crusher that allows the facility to collect whole and brokenglass bottles, jugs and jars.

Sonoco has always prided itself on ‘closing the loop,’ said RayHoward, general manager, Sonoco Recycling. We use recycled materials inour products, which are then recycled by the consumer and come back tous for processing. With this upgrade, we’re now able to recycle evenmore of the packaging produced by Sonoco, in addition to the other itemswe collect that aren’t produced by us.

Derek Trader, division marketing manager, Global Rigid Paper andClosures, agreed, Sonoco is one of the largest providers of compositecan packaging in the world for products such as coffee or Pringles(®)potato crisps. The ability to both produce and recycle this item isexciting for us and further demonstrates the Company’s commitment tosustainable business practices.

New items accepted:

• Composite cans – cardboard containers with metal bottoms, such as coffee or Pringles containers
• Paper – office paper, junk mail, magazines, chipboard, wet-pack boxes and gable-top cartons
• Plastics – most plastics #1-7, including plastic bottles, jugs, jars and containers like yogurt cups and margarine tubes, milk crates, curbside recycling bins and carts, laundry baskets, plastic lawn furniture and toys, and five-gallon buckets
• Glass – whole and broken glass bottles, jugs and jars

The facility is still unable to accept tissue paper, paper plates andcups, waxed cardboard, plastic bags and films, containers that have heldtoxic substances, metal lids on glass or plastic items, glass cups orplates, window glass or ceramics.

A recycling leader with 50 locations and expertise worldwide, SonocoRecycling annually collects approximately 3 million tons of oldcorrugated containers, various grades of paper, metals and plastics. Inaddition, the Company has experts who provide secure, reliable andinnovative recycling solutions to residential and commercial customers.

Sonoco Recycling currently operates six material recovery facilities(MRFs) and serves nearly 150 communities in which curbside-collectedresidential and commercial materials are processed. The Company alsoprovides recycling programs which identify waste reduction opportunitiesthat reduce operating expenses for many of the largest consumer productcompanies in the U.S.

About Sonoco
Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a global provider of a variety of consumerpackaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays andpackaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales ofapproximately $4.5 billion, the Company has more than 19,600 employeesworking in over 340 operations in 34 countries, serving many of theworld’s best known brands in some 85 nations. Sonoco is a proud memberof the 2012/2013 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. For moreinformation on the Company, visit our website at http://www.sonoco.com/.