The image and videos in this news story are what we believe to be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.

Across the globe, cardboard producers are carrying out sustainability projects, trying to make cardboard from substances other than paper-based material, and this year we have been trying something quite special off our own corrugator. The good news is that our trials have been successful, and we have produced cardboard, which is predominantly made of agricultural crop waste.

Paper and cardboard as a packaging type already has incredible credentials of being a renewable, reusable, recyclable and compostable resource. This exciting new partnership with EnvoPAP and Test Valley Packaging extends a sustainable offering that’s already there. Exploring, producing and marketing the supply of other environmental packaging types with a lower carbon footprint supporting farmers from developing communities truly supports a circular economy.

Our understanding is that these are the first reels of agricultural waste products to be put on a corrugator, the first sheets of cardboard produced, and the first boxes to be printed and cut in the United Kingdom. We now join manufacturers from Germany and Poland with this capability.

This sustainability journey began at the end of 2021 when a long-standing client of ours (Test Valley Packaging) approached and asked us if we were interested in a potential partnership with a business that had subsequently approached them regarding products made of agricultural waste from India (EnvoPAP).

Our own sustainability projects over the last few years have seen the introduction of FSC®, corn-starch based varnishes from our ink suppliers, tree planting with schools, commitment to using more 100% recycled papers, more energy efficient waste conveyors in the factory and purifying our waste ink/water from our machines on site.

Although we are always ready for our next sustainability project, initially we felt the idea of making cardboard that wasn’t paper based, out of arable farm waste was not only a bit pie in the sky but possibly a challenge too large for our facility in Somerset. Especially when the R&D budgets in market leading packaging businesses stretch a lot further. However, businesses large, medium, or small don’t need to be market leaders to be dedicated, and the benefits of being flexible adaptable and in control of our own processes, meant the decision would be to drive this forward very quickly, especially because of the environmental importance over and above anything else.

Over the next few months, we will be releasing more information about the social, environmental and ethical potential this new product has – and it is significant. We will also let you know when, where and how you can purchase it, how we got to where we are with this new venture and our plans going forward as we continue to do our bit to help protect our planet.

(Pictured above, These are the first agricultural sheets off our corrugator).