Raw Materials & Material Cycle Renewable raw materials, functional coating, an existing cycle
Virgin paper fiber or industrial hemp — or both in one formulation: molded parts with the stability, moisture and water resistance your product needs. After use, the molded part goes into paper collection — the cycle that already exists.
At a glance
Virgin paper fiber, industrial hemp or both: the properties your product needs
Each of the two fibers can carry a molded part on its own — some properties only emerge in combination. Functional coating is added where the contents require something extra. We define which formulation your molded part gets according to your requirements.
Wood fiber
Virgin paper fiber
Virgin paper fiber from responsible sources, designed for food contact — FSC®-certified on request. The quality and function of the molded part begin in the fiber.
Hemp fiber
Industrial hemp
Annual crop (Cannabis sativa L.) from certified industrial hemp varieties in the EU variety catalog, THC content within the legal limit — as a virgin fiber raw material on its own or combined with virgin paper fiber, designed for food contact.
Coating
Functional coating
Reduces permeability to oxygen and water vapor (OTR/WVTR), makes the surface grease-resistant and abrasion-resistant — for demanding packaging, especially for food. Applied on our own coating lines. PFAS are not added, either in the formulation or in the process.
Certified and documented
What your approval needs, we deliver with the molded part: certificates with scope, the declaration of conformity for the item and traceability of every batch.
Food contact
BRCGS Grade A
Production at the PAPACKS Gigafactories in Arnstadt is certified to BRCGS Global Standard Packaging Materials, Issue 7, Grade A — including HACCP. Declaration of conformity according to Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 for each item.
TÜV Rheinland Cert GmbH · Scope: Gigafactory 1 + 2 Arnstadt — Download certificate
Quality
ISO 9001:2015
Quality management certified by TÜV Rheinland, — scope: Cologne and Gigafactory 1 + 2 Arnstadt.
TÜV Rheinland — Download certificate
Traceability
Every batch documented
Continuous monitoring and traceability from raw material to delivery.
Origin
FSC® Mix Credit
The virgin paper/wood fiber comes from responsible sources — FSC® Mix Credit (credit system), license code FSC-C125098.
FSC® Chain of Custody · License FSC-C125098 · CoC no. SCS-COC-005171 — Download certificate
Virgin paper fiber
Virgin paper fiber: from responsible sources, designed for food contact
The raw material for premium products and direct food contact. Pulp fibers become slurry, and the slurry becomes the molded part: shape and strength come from the fiber.
Requirement
Designed for your product
Load capacity, dimensional stability and moisture behavior follow your requirements — we define wall thickness, fiber density and formulation in the design. Optionally with moisture and water resistance built directly into the fiber.
Color
White, brown or colored
The fiber determines white or brown. From an appropriate order quantity, we color the molded part in your color on request — with food coloring in the fiber formulation.
Processing
From fiber to slurry
Pulp fibers are dissolved with water in the pulper and prepared into fiber slurry — the starting material for every molded part.
Industrial hemp
Fiber from the field, new every season
Industrial hemp is an annual field crop: sown in spring, harvested in the same year — long fibers with high cellulose content, harvested from the field like grain, year after year.
Fiber length
Tear-resistant thanks to long fibers
The long hemp fiber provides the tear strength and tear propagation resistance in the molded part — for protecting sensitive products.
Szostak et al. 2023, Industrial Hemp for Papermaking (PMC)
Stiffness
Stiff fiber, stiff molded part
The stiff hemp fiber increases flexural stiffness in the fiber composite. We design wall thickness, load capacity and dimensional stability for each item and state them in the data sheet for your molded part.
Fiber properties according to Szostak et al. 2023, Industrial Hemp for Papermaking (PMC)
Applications
From product protection to humid environments
Protective packaging for sensitive devices, food in the cold chain, cosmetics — industrial hemp goes into the mix where strength and shape retention matter.
Fiber yield, cellulose content and material properties are documented in published studies — including Szostak et al. 2023 (peer-reviewed, PMC), European Industrial Hemp Association (2020, industry association) and Rodale Institute (2019).
Functional coating
Coating where the contents need it
For demanding packaging, especially for food: the coating is added when fiber and formulation alone cannot meet the requirement — applied on our own coating lines.
Barrier
Oxygen and water vapor
Reduces permeability to oxygen and water vapor (OTR/WVTR) — for food with barrier requirements and contents that must be kept away from moisture.
Surface
Grease-resistant and abrasion-resistant
Keeps greasy contents away from the fiber and protects devices with displays, lacquer or high-gloss finishes from fiber abrasion.
Mission
On our own coating lines
The coating is specified for each item and applied in series production — OTR/WVTR values and test conditions are stated in the data sheet for your molded part.
Material cycle
End of life: fiber again at the end of use
Disposal route, recyclability and packaging licensing — what happens to the molded part at the end of use and what proof you receive for it.
Proof
Recyclability tested
Molded fiber is collected in the paper stream and recycled as material. For uncoated molded parts, a material-based proof according to DIN EN 13430 is available; on a product basis, cyclos-HTP assesses according to the ZSVR minimum standard — for the unprinted Fiber Box with 85 % potential fiber yield.
At your request, we commission the assessment of your molded part for you; your quote lists the costs separately.
cyclos-HTP · Test report no. 2782-2026-005174
Disposal
Into waste paper
For consumers and businesses alike, the molded part goes into the existing paper collection. We emboss the material code PAP 21 into the molded part.
Packaging fees
Licensed as paper and paperboard
Molded fiber is licensed with the dual systems in the paper and paperboard fraction. The PPWR provides for EPR fees to be graded by recyclability (Art. 6(8)) — the grading will be set by delegated acts and the compliance schemes.
EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR)
Regulation (EU) 2025/40, applicable since August 12, 2026: our position paper documents, for each requirement, what is confirmed for molded fiber today — natural fiber as the material basis, recyclability in the paper stream. Where something remains a reasoned assessment, we say so, as long as the delegated acts are pending. We do not give a blanket assurance of compliance; we compile the evidence for your item on a product basis.
Energy & research
Energy, water and the next fibers
How the plants work with electricity and water — and which fiber sources go into testing next.
Energy & water
Photovoltaics and water loop
On the roofs of the PAPACKS Gigafactories, photovoltaic systems supplement the plants' power supply.
Where the process allows, process water is treated in the plant and returned.
Paludiculture
Fibers from rewetted peatlands
Reed, cattail and sedges grow on wet and rewetted peatland. In the PALFAFORM research project with the ATB Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, we process this biomass into pulp. From it, we form prototypes in our pilot plant — using the wet process, as in series production. In development, not yet part of the series formulations.
Research and development project PALFAFORM with the ATB · funded by the BMWK (ZIM) · Photo: ATB
Raw material research
More fiber sources in testing
Since our founding, we have been testing renewable fiber sources for their suitability for molded fiber — fiber length, cellulose content, behavior in the slurry and recyclability. Plant-based residues from your production can also become the raw material for your packaging this way: developed together, tested and documented for each project. What passes the test becomes a formulation.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about raw materials and disposal
Contact
Want to package with these raw materials? Let's talk
Direct
Request a consultation
You describe your product and requirements — we advise you on how your packaging is made from virgin paper fiber and industrial hemp. Our project team develops the formulation on this basis.
Send inquiry →On site
Raw materials workshop
Handle samples, clarify feasibility and approval questions in one meeting — at the showroom in Cologne or at your site.
Request a workshop →Evidence
Certificates & conformity
FSC®, food contact compliance and the documents for your item — as a dossier for your approval. For how series production is tested, see our Quality management.
View downloads →The molded parts we manufacture:
View products →