Mark Cropper, 6th Generation Chairman talks with Planet Mark

My name is Mark Cropper and I am the sixth generation Chair of James Cropper which is a paper and advanced materials business based here in Burneside.

The business has actually been around for 275 years and as a family we bought it in 1845. We've been here for a long time and we know what it is to be sustainable.

Now, of course, we have to think what it needs to be sustainable in environmental terms, which is something we're really really actively working on.

So, we're planning to cut our carbon emissions which are high, you know we are an energy-intensive industry dealing with gas at the moment, but we're planning to get rid of gas by 2030. Being far more efficient with the way that we deal with energy, heat and water, which also has some other positive impacts. We're also looking at closing the loop on waste recycling.

Paper can be made from any kind of plant waste, so that includes cotton and textiles but also we created the world's first coffee cup recycling facility in 2013 and we recycle something like 500 million cups per year already. So that's already underway.

We're also chipping away at our carbon footprint with community energy, we've leased our roof to the Burneside Community Energy company, which I think you would have heard about, as well.

But really, as well as acting locally and doing everything we can, we are also, I think, as a business doing everything we can to have more of a global impact. So, here in Burneside we make materials out of carbon fibre and other materials that have a central part to play in renewable energy and other critical industries. We are one of the world's leading makers of materials for fuel cells, and we also this year have created a green hydrogen business and we're going into electrochemistry to make the cost of green hydrogen production much lower. This is going to have a huge impact in actually decarbonising the whole energy system.

So, really we're doing everything we can. Really thinking globally but acting locally, and trying not to leave any stone unturned.