Cat ‘on tour’: Koehler Paper looks to start a conversation about circular paper packaging

Packaging Solutions

Koehler Paper is letting the public know the advantages of paper based packaging, up close and personal. As part of a two part promotional tour, the manufacturer of specialty paper for packaging food and drugstore products is stopping at food retail stores and branches of renowned consumer brands. The first tour is taking it through Germany.

‘As a packaging material, paper has huge potential, even if it is often overlooked. So, it is all the more important to make manufacturers and the trade aware of the topic – and to show them viable options given demanding regulations, such as the European PPWR,’ explained Philipp Prechtl, chief strategy officer at the Koehler Group.

A central theme of the campaign – a larger than life sized cat transported in a semi truck – is making a total of 15 stops. Under the motto ‘Pack it in paper’, the company is informing people about the advantages of paper based packaging materials. The nationwide campaign focuses on key aspects such as the barrier capability of flexible packaging paper for optimal product protection, the role of retail and brand name manufacturers in selecting packaging material, as well as cost aspects.

The cat is traveling from stop to stop starting from the production site in Kehl, where the flexible packaging paper is produced. With its proverbial many lives, the cat represents the high recyclability of paper. To maximise media coverage, Koehler Paper is publishing an infotainment series on LinkedIn and on Pack it in paper. This highlights a select topic per stop, such as the material cycle, brand perception, or specific product requirements, illustrating the multifaceted nature of modern packaging paper.

Starting in September, the promotional tour will travel its second tour in northeastern Germany. The finale will be the symbolic recycling of the cat at the Koehler Paper mill in Greiz, Thuringia, where wastepaper is used to make premium recycled paper from 100% secondary fibres. ‘The recycling symbolises the rebirth of the cat and therefore the paper, which can start its journey all over again,’ continued Philipp Prechtl.