Creating a 'renaissance in manufacturing'

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Andrew Barnetson, corrugated sector manager for the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), speaks to ePolitix.com ahead of a CPI parliamentary reception.

What is the Confederation of Paper Industries? What are the organisation's major aims?

CPI is the voice of the UK paper and board industry and the leading trade association for the paper and board industry in the UK. We represent the whole loop of paper-making, conversion and recycling with 60 member companies across 265 member sites, and our members turn over more than £4bn - so we are a sizable industry in the UK economy.

We provide a number of core services, as any trade association does: statistics, health and safety information, employment affairs and details on pending legislation. However, CPI is keen to play a strategic role and is increasingly working to raise awareness of the role of paper in society. This is most notable in paper packaging, particularly corrugated. The parliamentary reception is a specific part of our efforts to raise awareness of the role that corrugated packaging plays.

Could you tell us about the forthcoming Corrugated Industry Parliamentary Reception? What are you hoping the reception will achieve?

This is the second parliamentary reception that has been organised by the corrugated industry in recent years. We had our first corrugated parliamentary reception this time last year, where we joined with another trade association in this area - the Sheet Plant Association. By doing this we could present a single face of the UK corrugated industry to MPs, enabling them to speak to as wide an audience as possible. By working alongside the Sheet Plant Association, we could present MPs with a single voice for the entire corrugated industry.

Last year was a great success. We sought, then, to raise the awareness of corrugated packaging, how important cardboard packaging is in everyday lives- for delivering computers, fresh fruit, moving house etc. We have a fantastic recycling rate, but people don't fully understand what a good product we have from an environmental standpoint. More than that, we can also bring advantages to business in terms of space efficiency and increased brand awareness through high-quality printing. Last year we were attempting to get these messages across to MPs.

This year we seek to go one step further. We will still drill home to MPs what an important industry this is to society and manufacturing in MPs' constituencies, but we will also say 'this is how you can help us'. What we want is a 'renaissance in manufacturing'. We are saying to MPs that in the UK we are the 6th largest manufacturer in the world, behind countries such as USA, China, Japan, and Germany. We believe that we should be better than that.

Manufacturing currently has 13 per cent of UK GDP, down from around 30 per cent in the 1960s. In recent years we have moved away from manufacturing in this country and become more of a service-based society, with only high-end manufacturing.

One of the messages we will be taking to MPs at the reception is that manufacturing remains fundamental. Given the economic problems we have had, we need to emphasise that we need good industry in this country, which adds value that we can rely on. We need politicians to invest in that; we need MPs to give all the assistance they can in their constituencies and at national level. More manufacturing will help society.

We have a series of questions in our briefing notes for MPs, which emphasise specific areas where they can make a difference.

It is important to emphasise that we are building on this new strategic area of promotion and raising awareness of what we can do for society. To make this happen, speaking with MPs is fundamental. We need to build on the success of last year's reception where we had about a dozen MPs attend; this year we will have 35. Clearly we are in the lead-up to a general election but, more pertinently, MPs recognise that packaging is an important topic and that paper-based packaging has a key role to play.

How has the paper industry been affected by the economic downturn?

We have seen manufacturing decrease over a number of years. A number of organisations have moved out of the UK to the Middle East and Far East, where labour costs are lower. That has happened over many years, and the industry has had to adapt to that.

Over the last 18 months this has become worse, due to people's buying patterns changing. We have seen the impact as levels of electrical appliance sales have fallen and also, indirectly, through the automotive industry, where the corrugated industry has been providing the packaging for car parts.

Food and drink packaging remains broadly stable, as people still need to eat! However, in terms of electrical goods and parts for the automotive and aerospace industries, we have seen a very significant decrease in the last 18 months.

That is possibly beginning to change now, but we are far from in the clear. It has been a very significant downturn to which we have had to adapt.

We are seeking to show MPs that we are an innovative and creative industry. If one area starts to falter, we can focus on another. One area that is of increasing importance is retail-ready packaging. Previously products have been delivered in cardboard boxes that needed to be opened and emptied on shelves. The retail industry has said that this was laborious, and so the corrugated industry has provided boxes that are printed and have a tear-off top. All an operator needs to do is put it on the shelf and tear the top off. These boxes can be seen in supermarkets now and have saved companies time and money.

Do you believe that parliamentarians adequately champion the paper industry and related industries?

No we don't. That is no criticism of MPs, the industry itself needs to do more to engage with parliamentarians. That is one of the purposes of the parliamentary reception, to inform MPs of our issues.

MPs are bombarded by many different people every day; they are torn in a number of different directions, they have exceedingly busy schedules.

What we need to do through our parliamentary reception and our MP briefing notes, is make it very clear who we are, what we want and why we want it. In calling for a renaissance in manufacturing we can see the benefits to the economy and the benefits to our industry.

In our briefing notes we suggest simple things that MPs can do, such as removing business rates on empty property. The benefits of this are clear and it would be simple to do. It would help our industry, and they can understand why that is the case.

MPs haven't done enough for us historically. We need to change that by engaging and discussing relevant issues. If we can forge an effective discussion, then I believe MPs can do a number of good things for us in their constituencies and at the national level. There is plenty of scope for a productive and constructive relationship that will benefit all parties.

What are the CPI's views on the forthcoming Copenhagen climate change conference? Do you believe it will be a success? What would mark it as a success?

As a European society and as a global society we need to recognise sustainability and, as the paper packaging industry, we have an extremely important role to play in this area. Paper comes from a sustainable source. We have more trees in Europe now than we did 30, 50, 100 years ago. We are growing more trees every year in Europe, not depleting the world's forests. We are a sustainable resource and paper packaging is eminently recyclable.

Packaging in general does not have a huge environmental impact, but the product that it packages often does. Society needs to understand where the environmental impacts are, and that is product, not packaging. We need to understand that packaging saves waste and has a net benefit for the environment.

We have a big task ahead and I wish all the politicians attending the conference the best of luck, they have a difficult job ahead of them.

Please view a copy of the Parliamentary Briefing notes to be given to MPs at the reception.

The Corrugated Industry Parliamentary Reception will take place on Wednesday 4th November 12.30pm- 3.30pm in Dining Room A.