Circular products: Panther Group expands the prospects for recyclable packaging

The Panther Group has successful examples of sustainable packaging solutions made of corrugated board for many areas of application. This ranges from goods carriers/pallets and e-commerce to a wide variety of food and non-food packaging. Panther is also developing new material combinations such as the use of grass paper. With the introduction of the D-flute, an additional offer was created to produce packaging with logistical advantages - lower volume and thus better truck utilization, fewer transports and thus CO2 savings. Companies are increasingly convinced of the possibility of giving preference to corrugated board products over those made of plastic, and thus relying on renewable raw materials and a closed material cycle. Last but not least, they also achieve a significant improvement in their own sustainability goals. The experts at the Panther Group still see great potential in realizing "made for recycling" with corrugated board and developing forward-looking solutions.

For decades, there has been comprehensive recycling and a seamless material cycle for corrugated board: It begins with the use of waste paper to produce corrugated base paper and ends with the return of packaging or corrugated board displays via waste paper recycling. The Panther Group has always been involved in this economically and ecologically important material cycle.

Responsibility and innovation go hand in hand
With a long-term orientation, the Panther Group always strives to make a contribution to the protection and preservation of the environment (soil, air and water) and to specifically minimize its own CO2 footprint. This includes the effects of the products on the CO2 emissions of the entire value chain from raw material production to corrugated board production and processing to delivery to the customer. Along these lines, the Panther Group is striving to reduce emissions-intensive drivers - while maintaining the same and even increasing the quality of the products. Measures with targets up to the year 2040 have been defined, taking into account the respective circumstances of individual locations. This includes, for example, that the entire Panther Group has been using CO2 neutral electricity since 2021. Current comparative figures show that the Panther Group has succeeded in reducing CO2 emissions. This is the success of a wide range of measures, from the commissioning of the most modern machines, optimized logistics and the conscious use of energy and materials. For example, the sustainability team considers the responsible purchase of sustainable goods and services and the use of exclusively renewable raw materials (FSC®).

Further aspects are:

• No use of plastic
• Recycling of material within the framework of the circular economy
• Enable full recycling of Panther Products
• Redesign of products to save material/raw materials
• ReNew of products “from gray to green”
• Targeted substitution of plastic

Important specifications for a CO2-neutral future are for example: Purchasing from regional and certified suppliers (FSC®), focus on vocational training/training of specialists (investment in the future of people in the respective region of the Panther Plants), continuous digitization in the company and careful use of resources, conversion of the vehicle fleet to low-emission vehicles, avoidance or reduction of CO2 emissions for business trips, procurement of 100% CO2-neutral electricity through to the use of photovoltaics.