Constituency Responsible Business Champion

We are pleased to announce that Just Paper Tubes have been nominated by our local MP, the Rt Hon. Nigel Adams MP for Selby and Ainsty as his Constituency Responsible Business Champion .

MP's Visit in 2018

Statement:

Just Paper Tubes ltd “JPT” was founded in 1987 and relocated to the Selby District in 1991 where they have continued to grow and create employment opportunities for the local community. JPT are one of the UK’s leading cardboard core and paper tube manufacturers in the UK, who have driven sustainability throughout their business.

Engaging with stakeholders and driving opportunities within the local community

Just Paper Tubes has been an active sponsor of a local Selby based Charity, Selby Hands of Hope (SHOH), and has regularly provided donations and sponsorships to enable the charity to continue to carry out its valuable work in our constituency. SHOH enters volunteers into the Great North Run & Just Paper Tubes have sponsored their running tops for the past two years.

Just Paper Tubes also plays an active role when it comes to working with young people to provide them with the opportunities to discover, develop and celebrate their skills and potential. Just Paper Tubes has worked alongside the national charity, Young Enterprise. Just Paper Tubes has provided significant regional funding in the form of sponsorship along with 150 volunteer hours per year, in the form of regional board members, Business Advisors to local schools, and more recently, representing the North Of England on the Young Enterprise National Volunteer forum. JPT believes that one of the best ways to motivate young people is have local engagement with SME’s alongside the educational system, and this can be achieved by working with Young Enterprise.

Just Paper Tubes has demonstrated it commitment to inclusivity and delivering employment opportunities over the past 2 years by providing employment to young people who have special needs or learning difficulties. A work placement by Helena, an 18-year-old student has really helped this particular employee grow and realise the heights that she can achieve. Helena wanted to go to a specific college away from home that could provide her with employment skills, even though it was residential based. JPT were supportive throughout the whole process and submitted regular statements and letters of support to the local authority which helped persuade the authority that there was a case to fund Helena’s place at the specialised college.

The confidence that this employee has gained from the workplace has been significant and it is expected that, after she finishes her studies at college, she will move from part-time to full-time. An insightful interview with Helena can be found on the JPT website.

JPT have also been running a very successful apprenticeship programme, on this 13 month placement apprentices gain an understanding into the production of cardboard tubes, along with the knowledge required to run an efficient and smooth operation. JPT’s apprenticeship programme has taken place in Production, Management and Accounts. Over the past 4 years JPT has taken on over 8 members of staff as apprentices or participants in an apprenticeship programme. JPT believes that future business leaders should be developed and nurtured internally and opportunities should be given to all employees.

Sustainability

Just Paper Tubes have put a focus on the environmental impact businesses can have and how we live in a more sustainable way. This starts from the coreboard used to produce their cardboard cores & tubes. For over 20 years 100% of the coreboard used by JPT has been made from wastepaper. JPT haven’t just stopped there, in recent years they have invested significantly to reduce their carbon footprint, this has been achieved by the installation of 100kw of solar panels, which on a sunny Yorkshire day can provide enough electricity to power their site. They also removed all oil heating systems for the offices, warehouse and factories & replaced with a carbon neutral biomass heating plant. JPT has also put significant investment into their IT infrastructure to eliminate paper and wasteful activities within their supply chain. In 2016 they were accredited with ISO 14001 (Environment) and in 2017 started construction on their energy efficient warehouse which has enabled storage space to increase from 300m2 to 1200m2, but better still improving product quality by controlling the climatic environment that the cardboard cores & tubes are stored.

JPT has also worked with the local LEP (Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership) and successfully ran a project based on an environmental audit to reduce energy usage on site in 2019. JPT was successful in achieving a £9k grant award which has enabled JPT to separate one building into two sections and reduce energy usage by 69,231kWh with a CO2 saving of 25 tonnes per annum.

Just Paper Tubes has worked hard to reduce their energy usage and produces a product that is bio-degradable, recycled and comes from 100% recycled paper, however they are always looking at how they can reduce their own plastic usage. In 2019 JPT is launching a new product to replace their plastic end caps which are used in transit packaging tubes (used for the shipment of advertising media, posters & in-store promotions). We’ve all seen the articles on the BBC or initiatives such as Sky’s Ocean Rescue and their hashtag #PassOnPlastic , JPT taken the Initiative and have, through Research and Development found a plant based by-product that can be turned into a biodegradable & recyclable end cap that will replace the current LDPE caps used by JPT. Trials have taken place and been approved by customers, with the new product being in the marketplace in July 2019.