Recovered paper is not waste, but a valuable raw material. At WEPA, we know recycling inside out and understand why it’s so important.

Yesterday’s paper? To some it is waste, to others it is a valuable resource that can be used to protect and preserve the environment.

But let's start at the beginning: A basic material for paper is pulp, which is obtained from wood. This so-called primary fibre is then used for office paper, magazines or exercise books, for example. Once those become recovered paper, their second life as a secondary raw material begins through recycling.

This is made possible by modern processing methods such as those used at our French plant in Château-Thierry. Here, not only staples and glue are removed from the recovered paper pulp, for instance – in the so-called de-inking process, the printing ink in particular is also washed out. This way, the fibre becomes bright again and is restored to its original state as far as possible.

The resulting fibre is used to make WEPA’s recycled products: eco-friendly hygiene paper that protects forests and has a significantly lower ecological footprint than products made from primary fibre, i.e. pure pulp.

By the way, we are also capable of combining primary and secondary fibre – which also provides a considerable environmental advantage. For our hybrid products, we use roughly 30% recycled fibre, which results in an environmental footprint improvement of 20% compared to a pure-pulp product. The primary fibre we use comes from responsible, certified and audited sources.

With our expertise and modern technologies, we protect forests and the environment. And we turn yesterday’s recovered paper into tomorrow’s hygiene paper.