With the fiber of the silphia plant as raw material and Procter & Gamble, one of the world's largest consumer goods manufacturers, as partner, PreZero and its OutNature brand have committed themselves to the mission #papierverändert. The product and cooperation were presented at one of Germany's biggest stages on the subject of environmental protection and transformation: the 14th German Sustainability Award in Düsseldorf at the beginning of December.
The aim of the Sustainability Award and the associated congress is to bring together experts from various sectors and present concepts that can be used to achieve sustainable change.
Together with Astrid Teckentrup, CEO of Procter & Gamble DACH, Thomas Kyriakis, CEO of PreZero, presented the goals of the collaboration as well as silphia paper as a material for environmentally friendly packaging solutions in the congress keynote:
"With Procter & Gamble, we are now rethinking "collaboration", thus fulfilling our joint responsibility as major companies and taking the circular economy to a whole new level," Kyriakis said. The joint #papierverändert campaign was launched in December 2021 with silphia-based sales displays in various Lidl and Kaufland stores. Top brands from the Procter & Gamble portfolio will be presented there. Further joint projects along the entire value chain are planned for 2022.
From interviews to image films, #papierverändert has a forward-looking story to tell. You can read it in detail here:
Here, interested parties will find facts and figures about the silphia plant, reasons for the cooperation with Procter & Gamble and first pictures of silphia displays directly at the point of sale. The best thing to do is to click right in.
Why is paper such an important future topic as a packaging material? And why should we think about alternatives to wood as a raw material in its production? Thomas Kyriakis, CEO of PreZero, and Astrid Teckentrup, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Procter & Gamble DACH, provide further, in-depth insights into the collaboration in a joint interview.
Paper has always had the power to change the world. From love letters to sheet music, paper has been a messenger of stories, ideas and thoughts big and small for centuries. Now it's time for someone to change paper. Our campaign film is fascinating - and uses emotional images to show the history of paper as a "home of ideas". And, how we are adding another chapter to this story with the silphia plant.
With the brand OutNature, PreZero has developed a completely new and regional raw material source based on the Danube silphia for use in the paper industry. Previously used exclusively as an energy crop for bioenergy production, the fibers of the silphia can now be used for the production of sustainable paper and packaging products. Silphia also offers a sustainable perspective for farmers because, among other things, it is insect-friendly, stores CO2 in the soil and protects it from wind and water erosion. OutNature's focus is particularly on paper applications with direct food contact.