The industry’s key sustainability efforts therefore focus on circular management in order to increase the proportion of reused fibers compared to that of virgin fibers and to develop high-quality recycled paper types. Dissolving contaminants in the recycling process, e.g. mineral oil components in newspaper printing inks, is also one of the challenges facing the industry. New paper products or printing processes whose influence on recycling cycles have not been tested pose a problem. Products from the industry are often a central part of the offerings of other industries. While demand from sales markets such as the newspaper industry has declined over the last five years, demand from mail order has continued to rise. In addition, paper-based packaging has an environmentally friendly image from the consumer’s perspective, as it is recycled in significantly higher proportions than, for example, plastic packaging. However, the critical discussion about the increasing amount of waste from pizza boxes or online packages and the littering of cities does not go unnoticed by the industry. Every single-use packaging – even made from recycled cardboard – requires energy and water in production and is less ecological than reusable packaging. Resource-saving, climate-neutral production and sustainable product design are therefore crucial driving forces for greater sustainability.

The industry includes, for example, the production of pulp, paper, cardboard and cardboard as well as related goods.