Koehler Paper has launched a public communication campaign in Germany aimed at promoting paper as a recyclable packaging material for food applications, positioning the initiative against the regulatory backdrop of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and Germany’s upcoming Packaging Law Implementation Act.
The campaign began on April 15 in Berlin’s Government District and will continue on April 16, coinciding with the first reading of the German Verpackungsdurchführungsgesetz at the Bundestag. Koehler said the effort is designed to raise awareness of paper-based packaging and its role in helping packaging users and manufacturers respond to tighter recycling and waste-reduction requirements.
According to the company, the campaign will combine physical and digital elements. In Berlin, Koehler is deploying an oversized origami cat mascot alongside bicycle- and truck-mounted LED billboards near the Bundestag in order to highlight the recyclability of specialty paper and the policy conditions needed to expand its use.
“Next to politicians, it’s consumers who have the power to decide which recyclable packaging materials will make their way to our shelves,” said Philipp Prechtl, chief strategy officer of Koehler Group and a member of the executive board at Koehler Paper. “The topic of recyclability affects us all, so it’s incumbent on all of us to help pave the way for recyclable paper solutions.”
Prechtl is scheduled to appear at the Berlin event on April 16 from 10am to 11am to discuss the sustainability case for paper-based packaging, as well as the current legal classification of paper for food and drugstore packaging applications.
Koehler said the Berlin launch marks the start of a broader “Pack It With Paper” campaign that will extend beyond the capital. The company plans to continue the initiative at interpack 2026 in Düsseldorf from May 7 to May 13, before taking the campaign on a wider tour across Germany.
That tour will include appearances at selected food retail headquarters, beginning in May in Oberkirch, where the company is headquartered, and concluding in the autumn at a recycling centre. Koehler said the visual identity of the campaign will be built around a series of origami animals, with the cat serving as the lead symbol.
The company is using the cat motif to reinforce its recycling message. “A powerful campaign with a powerful theme: cats are said to have nine lives. Paper packaging has even more lives, as it can be recycled up to 25 times,” Koehler said.
The campaign reflects a wider industry push to align packaging formats more closely with recyclability targets under the PPWR framework, while also influencing how paper is perceived by policymakers, retailers and end consumers in food packaging applications.
