Jeff Seabright appointed Chair

A former board member of one of the world’s biggest companies and White House climate change advisor has joined a Cambridge University start-up making plastic from peas.

As Unilever’s Chief Sustainability Officer Jeff Seabright is credited with turning one of the world’s largest multi-nationals into a leader in sustainability. But he has gone from leading the sustainability operations of a company with an annual turnover of £50bn across 155,000 staff in 190 countries and 400 household name products, to a company with no sales, no products and 10 staff. Mr Seabright said: “We’ve known we’ve had a plastic crisis for a long time. But the biggest problem with plastic is also its biggest strength. Its durability is great when you are protecting your product and a nightmare afterwards. The great conundrum has been to find a product that is cheap and durable without lasting forever on our planet.

“Xampla is the most exciting innovation I have worked on. It has potential to have a positive impact on a global scale and is a ground breaking solution for industries in desperate need of natural alternatives to plastic. I am very pleased to be joining as Chair at this critical time.”

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