PPWR and recyclability: Paper closes the loop

Chocolate without the guilt? nucao is all about organic, vegan, and fair trade. And packaging made of paper instead of plastic.

Flexible packaging papers are on the rise. This means empty waffle bags can go straight into paper recycling – and come back as premium packaging for luxury watches.

Paper isn't just a more sustainable alternative to plastic for many types of packaging. It also offers clear advantages in terms of overall costs, as is evident when comparing packaging for oatmeal.

Tea lovers can recycle Leros herbal tea packaging with their regular paper waste. The tea manufacturer uses high-tech paper—and is right on trend.

A cat has many lives, just like paper. To raise awareness of paper packaging, a special cat was out and about in Berlin.

Cutlery wrapped in plastic foil: It’s hygienic and practical in the catering industry—but it generates a lot of plastic waste. Now there’s a recyclable alternative made of paper.

From fruity to chocolatey, porridge offers a quick and easy breakfast solution for hassle-free daily routines. RUF and Koehler Paper demonstrate how practical convenience and recyclable paper packaging can be combined.

For years, packaging meant maximum barrier, maximum protection. Modular barrier papers demonstrate how tailored barrier solutions can effectively combine product protection, recyclability, and material efficiency.

Paper protects products. But it can do more than that: it changes how people perceive brands. Packaging has long since become more than just a shell, a barrier and a means of transport. It is a signal – for quality, responsibility and trust.

What can paper achieve as a packaging material today? Koehler Paper explored this question with a larger-than-life cat in an origami-style design and demonstrated during a roadshow where paper-based packaging solutions are already a viable alternative today.

Protecting products while supporting circularity – today's packaging papers have to do both. Dispersion barrier coatings provide the key to safeguarding sensitive goods while keeping paper recyclable.

The Product Carbon Footprint is an important metric – but it does not tell the full sustainability story. Recyclability and circularity also determine a packaging solution’s overall environmental performance.

The PPWR is making recyclability a decisive criterion for packaging. Alexander Rauer explains why reducing material complexity can make regulatory planning easier. A case study comparing two pasta packs shows how differently a composite structure and barrier paper perform in recycling.