Chesterfield Sustatinability Archives - Destination Chesterfield

Robinson receives FSC certification to boost sustainability credentials

1st March 2023

Robinson, a sustainable packaging manufacturer based in Chesterfield has announced it has received a prestigious sustainability certification for its Paperbox division.

Forest Stewardship council ® (FSC)’s pioneering certification system, which now covers more than 195 million hectares of forest, enables businesses and consumers to choose wood, paper and other forest products made with materials that support responsible forestry.

Dr Helene Roberts, CEO at Robinson, says this is a major step forward for the company, its customers, and the environment. She added: ‘We are delighted to have been awarded FSC certification for our rigid box packaging business. This is another step in making our business more sustainable, together with ensuring our packaging is made from up to 100% recycled board which is in turn recyclable.’

FSC certification ensures that all products produced at Paperbox are sustainable. FSC-managed forests help provide clean air and water by restricting hazardous chemicals and following strict harvesting and forestry practices. Their work also helps ensure a diversity of animals, trees and plants as well as providing safe working conditions for everyone involved.

This further demonstrates the investment that the company is making in its Paperbox business, following a significant investment in its new SATE box-making machine in Chesterfield, with improved quality and a reduced carbon footprint that allows customers to avoid long, complex supply chains from Asia.

Robinson partners with some of the world’s most luxurious brands, from concept to commercialisation, creating widely recyclable packaging made from 100% post-consumer recycled material.

The news follows Chesterfield Borough Council’s publication of its new climate strategy for the town, which is laying the groundwork for Chesterfield to become a carbon neutral borough by 2050. The new strategy will direct how the council works with industry in the future, ensuring sustainability and climate change a central theme of everything it does. Read more about the strategy here.

Robinson supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Support for more Derbyshire businesses and organisations to reduce energy use and cut carbon

3rd January 2023

More Derbyshire businesses and organisations will be eligible for help to reduce their energy costs and cut carbon emissions as part of the Green Entrepreneurs Fund programme

More than £715,000 has already been awarded to businesses and organisations through the grants programme which Derbyshire County Council is running in collaboration with the University of Derby, as part of the drive to help the county reach net zero by 2050 or sooner.

But now changes made to the eligibility criteria for the programme’s Small Grants Fund mean even more businesses and organisations will be able to access funding to help implement green energy plans to reduce their energy costs.

Small grants from £6,000 up to a maximum of £20,000 can be applied for towards projects such as, but not limited to:

installing solar panels
replacing old heating systems with air/ground source heat pumps
retrofitting old boilers to make them more energy efficient
fitting electric vehicle charging points at their premises
installing energy efficient LED lighting
improving the insulation in their premises to help prevent heat escaping
funding to replace equipment and machinery with energy-saving alternatives
battery storage for solar generated energy.

Applicants will be required to show how their proposals would cut carbon emissions and how they are planning to reduce their emissions to net zero – which means reducing carbon emissions right down to the lowest possible level and off-setting those that cannot be cut through measures such as planting more trees and other forms of habitat creation to absorb excess carbon from the atmosphere, making the overall net emissions zero.

They will also be asked to highlight how the grant funding will support them to improve their management of resources and staff to increase sustainability and show how the project would or could include wider community benefits such as protecting jobs or encouraging greener behaviour among staff.

Councillor Tony King, Cabinet member for Clean Growth and Regeneration, said: “We know that small businesses are feeling the pinch with rising energy bills and costs of materials and goods generally.

“This change to the Small Grants Fund criteria means that we can help more small businesses to invest in energy efficiency measures to help cut their costs as well as their carbon footprint.”

As well as the Small Grants Fund, the programme is also accepting applications to the Green Entrepreneurs Scholarship Fund to support individuals to retrain with skills to enable them to enter the field of low carbon, green energy.

And the Green Entrepreneurs Demonstrator Fund is also open for applications from high quality, larger scale carbon-cutting projects in Derbyshire. This fund is open to projects that are designed to encourage solutions beyond the mainstream of current thinking and the minimum grant available through this fund is £200,000.

Professor Kathryn Mitchell CBE DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, said: “The University has an ambition to make Derbyshire synonymous with sustainable business. This extra funding capacity to support businesses on the journey to zero carbon is invaluable, particularly at a time when energy costs are rising. We look forward to seeing the innovative projects that can be supported as a result.”

Find more information on the Green Entrepreneurs Fund programme here.