WEPA produces hygiene paper from the sustainable fibre innovation of recycled carton
After years of research and development, we have succeeded in preparing recycled carton in such a way that we can use it as raw material for our hygiene paper production. We believe that using recycled fibres as a raw material is the most sustainable path, as these fibres have already been utilised multiple times. The innovative production process ensures that our hygiene papers made of recycled carton are particularly soft and unbleached, reducing both energy and chemical usage. This allows us to offer maximal quality and the highest level of environmental protection.
In December 2023, our hygiene paper Satino PureSoft made of recycled carton was honoured with the German EcoDesign Award. ‘According to the Umweltbundesamt, the biggest innovation in the paper sector in over a decade,’ stressed Dr Bettina Hoffmann, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment.
In order to convince consumers of the extraordinary quality, comfort and sustainability of this hygiene paper made of recycled carton, WEPA has launched the German-wide campaign ‘Beige ist Besser’—Beige is Better.
Beige is Better - Sustainable Hygiene Papers (beige-ist-besser.de)
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Goals
- By 2030, our goal is to increase the proportion of recycled fibres or alternative fresh fibres in our own raw material portfolio to 60 percent, and to reduce the ecological footprint of the portfolio by 25% percent.
- The hygiene paper made of recycled carton offers societal value, as it guarantees a secure sense of hygiene and makes a vital contribution to a functioning circular economy.
‘After years of research and development, we at WEPA are now capable of using recycled carton as a raw material and preparing it accordingly. We wish for political support in driving this transformation process even further.’
Using recycled carton as a sustainable raw material means that the fibre has approximately a 70% smaller ecological footprint* compared to fresh fibres.
We have invested a multi-digit-million sum into development, conversions and technical facilities.
Our trade partners provide us with their packaging cartons, which we recycle, transform into new hygiene paper and finally sell back to them. This allows us to jointly implement the concept of the circular economy.
*To calculate the ecological footprint, we have used the method of ecological scarcity. This method is oriented on the Norm ISO 14040 and takes into account a broad spectrum of environmental stressors, such as pollutant emissions, resource usage and the biodiversity losses that accompany the land use necessary for fibre creation (cradle-to-gate). These aspects are summed up in an index number.
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