Whether it’s packaging, displays or printing – the Panther Group stands by its customers from raw material selection and development to production, logistics and disposal. The company attaches particular importance to sustainability. Recycled paper, for example, is the most important source of raw material for new corrugated board.

By Dr. Bernhard Reichenbach

We’re already thinking about tomorrow today.” This is one of the guiding principles of the Panther Group, headquartered in Tornesch near Hamburg/Germany. The group with eleven plants at six locations supplies customers from the food industry and trade with corrugated board, sales, transport and shelf packaging, multifunctional displays and preprint products throughout Europe. In addition, the family-run company with 1,350 employees offers various printing processes for solid and corrugated board, varnishing and coating as well as other services such as packaging and logistics.

Since its foundation 120 years ago, the group of companies has been on a constant path of development. Sustainability has always been an integral part of the business model, as the reuse of waste paper as a resource for high-quality new corrugated board has been common practice for decades. This circular economy continues to play an important role today.

The environmental compatibility of corrugated board is reflected in the use of around 80 % recycled paper as the most important source of raw material. “The company has always been dedicated to this material, which is exemplary from an environmental point of view, and always aligns its sustainability goals with the available possibilities of this versatile raw material for packaging, displays and point-of-sale presentations,” explains Dr-Ing. Frank Hibinger, Managing Director Production & Technology.

The sustainability concept represented by “Panther pro nature” is an integral part of the corporate strategy. The three pillars of sustainability – ecology, economy and social issues –, complement the Panther philosophy and are considered to be synonymous. They define the goals of the entire company, which aligns its processes accordingly and continuously adapts to current developments. “The focus is not on individual solution modules, but on a well thought-out overall solution to which daily actions are aligned,” notes Dr Hibinger.

The use of resources without burdening them beyond their regenerative capacity opens up the opportunity for optimized cost structures – but also for generating unique selling points. A decisive motive for Panther to develop new solutions is to offer customers substitutes that can replace multi-material packaging or displays that are difficult to recycle. The elimination of plastic in various sales or transport packaging is an increasingly important market requirement, which is met with intelligent solutions.

The company supports the recyclability of its high-quality and sales-boosting printed corrugated board products with two further factors: “For flexo printing, we use water-based ink systems, and for gluing the paper webs we use starch-based glues,” explains Dr Hibinger.

With a long-term focus, the Panther Group strives to contribute to the protection and preservation of the environment and to specifically minimize its own carbon footprint. This includes the impact of the products on the CO2 emissions of the entire value chain – from raw material to corrugated board production and processing to delivery to the customers. Along this chain, emission-intensive drivers are to be reduced and substituted. And this with constant or even better quality of the products.

Taking into account the respective circumstances of individual locations, measures have been defined with targets up to the year 2050. This includes, for example, that the entire group has been using CO2-neutral electricity since 2021. Current comparative figures show that it has been possible to reduce the corporate group’s CO2 footprint by a total of 13.5 % between 2018 and 2021. “This is the success of various mea-sures, from energy purchasing, the commissioning of state-of-the-art machinery, optimized logistics and the conscious use of materials,” Dr Hibinger knows.

In addition, product innovations, for example the use of grass paper and increasingly lightweight papers for flexo preprint, are driving the economical use of materials. And numerous customers are already following these offers. This is shown, among other things, by a display that is partly made of grass paper produced in a water- and CO2-saving way. The secondary placement for the campaign, a pallet display made from a combination of corrugated board and grass paper, is the result of a development by the experts at Panther Display GmbH & Co. KG.

Material reduction, resource-saving production and novel, recyclable raw materials form the foundation of the strategy “Panther pro nature”: Packaging and displays for a wide range of customers combine sustainability criteria with the indispensable protection, distribution as well as marketing functions. There are already numerous examples on the market today where customers use the natural look and feel of corrugated board in combination with grass paper. “Products, brands and manufacturers that particularly emphasize their natural origin and texture find in this material combination the perfect match for their appearance at the point of sale,” emphasizes Dr Hibinger.

Since Panther developed the material-saving crates of the Eco-Tray type, for example, many customers have already opted for this solution, which is an example of sustainable packaging. The automated erecting process of the trays is very well supported by the choice of material. Compared to previous packaging solutions, the trays offer considerable savings potential: The crates are up to 45 % lighter than the previous stacking tray variant, which means drastic CO2 savings.

The material savings achieved are also accompanied by cost reductions. Both in the overall logistics process – less loading volume and thus truck transport – and in handling, the Eco-Tray offers considerable advantages. Printed in many colours according to the customer’s specifications using the offset printing process, it is a light and robust tray that also meets all the customer’s marketing requirements.•