CREVE COEUR, Mo. and CHICAGO, April 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation today announced the three recipients of its 2008 Plant of the Year Award, the company's highest honor. Its Cameo Container box plant in Chicago; Coshocton, OH, containerboard mill; and Ft. Lauderdale, FL, recycling plant were recognized for outstanding performance in the areas of safety, productivity, quality and customer support.

Pat Moore, Smurfit-Stone's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Employees at these facilities demonstrated an outstanding commitment to excellence. Despite the challenging economic conditions we faced last year, our employees remained focused on achieving success - and their results speak volumes about their dedicated service and focus on our customers."

Cameo Container

Smurfit-Stone's Cameo Container team continues to maintain its reputation for excellence in safety, service and quality. The facility ended 2008 with zero recordable injuries, adding to an already impressive record of no lost-time accidents since 1998. The plant's Image Pac display and graphics team also received significant industry awards from Point-of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) and Design of the Times (DOT) in recognition of their innovative customer displays.

Coshocton Containerboard Mill

In 2008, employees at the company's Coshocton mill reduced costs and met both productivity and environmental compliance demands. The team also overcame productivity challenges to meet year-end goals, making 2008 the seventh consecutive year that production exceeded the mill's adjusted budget. All this was accomplished with only one recordable incident for the year.

Ft. Lauderdale Recycling Plant

Last year, the company's Ft. Lauderdale recycling team worked hard to improve profits and decrease costs. Overall, the plant reduced its total costs by 15 percent from 2007 and 14 percent from budget. In addition, employees worked safely the entire year, achieving a 0.0 recordable case rate (RCR) for the first time in more than 10 years.

Smurfit-Stone completed its safest year in company history in 2008, reducing its rate of injuries and illnesses nearly 10.5 percent compared to 2007, and meeting its RCR goal of 0.94.

Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation is one of the industry's leading integrated containerboard and corrugated packaging producers, and one of the world's largest paper recyclers. The company is a member of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® and the Chicago Climate Exchange. Smurfit-Stone generated revenue of $7.04 billion in 2008, has led the industry in safety every year since 2001, and conducts its business in compliance with the environmental, health, and safety principles of the American Forest & Paper Association.