Stick to paper scripts

SIR – The BBC’s move to scrap paper scripts from its dramas in an effort to meet its own environmental targets (report, February 10) 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 Chief Operating Officer, Precision Printing and 123 others; see telegraph.co.uk