Stick to Paper Scripts

Submitted by: The Two Sides Team February 27, 2017

A petition to the Daily Telegraph, for our right to reply to a recent article regarding the BBC’s initiative to remove paper scripts in favour of digital as part of their green measures, was published on Saturday 25th February, 2017!  With thanks to all of our members and stakeholders for signing this petition.

The Daily Telegraph published an article on February 10th (see original article here) announcing the BBC's initiative to scrap paper scripts in favour of a digital alternative. In response to this, Two Sides, with the support of our members, petitioned the Daily Telegraph for our right to reply. We are delighted to report that our counter article (below) was published on Saturday 25th February!

SIR – The BBC's move to scrap paper scripts from its dramas in an effort to meet its own environmental targets (report, February10) is a poorly thought-through token gesture.

Paper is a renewable and recyclable product. In Europe, which is the source for 93 per cent of Britain's paper, forested areas were increased by 17,000 square miles, an area the size of Switzerland, between 2005 and 2015. Europe's forests store almost 80 billion tons of carbon in their biomass, and the stock of carbon in forest biomass has increased by around three billion tons since 1990. This means that forests absorb around 7 per cent of the region's annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Aside from the respect that we in the paper and printing industry have for the environment, we also have a strong commercial incentive to protect our primary resources. We plant trees faster than we cut them down and, with the help of our stewardship, forests are expanding.

Britain has an exceptional paper recycling rate in excess of 70 per cent. Each year, by contrast, the electronics industry generates up to 41 million tons of e-waste in the form of discarded computers, smartphones and other devices. This waste is notoriously difficult to recycle.

Recent research shows that people read print on paper more carefully, and get more enjoyment out of it. We should all look to give our eyes a break from electronic media from time to time. Perhaps the BBC should let its hard-working actors do the same.

Martyn Eustace
Managing Director, Two Sides Ltd
James Ovenden
Managing Director, Ovenden Papers
Andy Skarpellis
Group Operating Officer, Precision Printing
and 123 others

We have also written to the BBC asking them to reword communications regarding the use of paper scripts and the environment.

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