(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070129/SMURFIT-STONELOGO)

Smurfit-Stone President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Klinger said,"The Cerritos plant represents our vision to build a world-class manufacturingorganization, supporting our customers' needs through high-performing, highlyaccountable people; sophisticated equipment; and standardized, repeatableprocesses. We are committed to Cerritos and to serving our customers in theSouthern California market."

The Cerritos "super plant" is specifically designed to serve SouthernCalifornia customers that include companies in the beverage, consumer goods,medical, food and produce, garment and distribution businesses. By combiningcutting-edge equipment with the latest technology and highly skilledemployees, the Cerritos facility can produce as much as 2.3 billion squarefeet of corrugated board per year and an average of 350 boxes a minute.

The Cerritos plant also highlights Smurfit-Stone's commitment tointegrating sustainability into its operations. To reduce energy consumption,the plant is powered by a high-efficiency boiler and uses highly efficientmake-up air heaters in the production area.

Smurfit-Stone has made great strides in reducing greenhouse gas emissionsin its facilities, reducing the burning of fossil fuels by approximately 20percent since 1998. As a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange, Smurfit-Stonehas committed to achieving greenhouse gas emission reductions of six percentbelow baseline by 2010.

The company's recycling operations recovered 7 million tons of valuablematerials from the waste stream in 2007, including 6.8 million tons ofrecovered paper, making Smurfit-Stone one of the world's largest paperrecyclers. Forty-one percent of the recovered paper was used as raw materialin the company's containerboard manufacturing operations.

To celebrate the Cerritos plant opening and to highlight its commitment tosustainability, Smurfit-Stone announced the donation of 1,000 seedlings tosupport urban forestry in California. Smurfit-Stone's customers and employees,as well as Cerritos Mayor Jim Edwards, joined in the grand openingcelebration.

About Smurfit-Stone

Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (Nasdaq: SSCC) is one of theindustry's leading integrated containerboard and corrugated packagingproducers and one of the world's largest paper recyclers. The company is amember of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, theSustainable Forestry Initiative(R), and the Chicago Climate Exchange.Smurfit-Stone generated revenue of $7.4 billion in 2007, has led the industryin safety every year since 2001, and conducts its business in compliance withthe environmental, health, and safety principles of the American Forest &Paper Association.

SOURCE Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation