We continually come into contact with small businesses and start-ups who are desperate to do the right thing by the environment, whether it’s cutting out single-use plastics or using recyclable raw materials.

How can we help them?

At a recent event, where I had been asked to talk on ‘Tackling the Plastic Challenge’, a delegate threw a large bundle of pallet wrap on the stage, asking what should he do to find an alternative?

Small businesses don’t want to use long stretches of single use plastic to secure their goods in transit; nor do they have huge financial resources to invest in developing or sourcing recyclable alternatives.

The issue often isn’t the raw materials that make up their own product, even the smallest business will invest time and creativity in sourcing for their own brands. What gets people upset is the incidentals, the sticky tape that seals their cardboard delivery boxes, the bottles that contain the squash in the office, the film that surrounds the new pack of teabags.

As manufacturers, it’s our role to keep on developing, investigating materials that can have an impact on people’s everyday lives and which can help support the very best intentions of our new business colleagues.