Sihl is nominated for the German Sustainability Award

Sihl is constantly working on the topics of environmental protection and resource conservation, as they are an essential part of the ESG strategy. This work has now been rewarded with the nomination of the GreenGrafX Photo Paper for the 17th German Sustainability Award (DNP) in the Products category.

Hardly any consumer is aware that conventional photo paper should not be disposed of in the waste paper bin. This is because it is actually always coated with polyethene (PE), i.e. plastic. This layer is inseparably bonded to the paper base, which makes recycling impossible.

This is a major problem for the environment, as over 50 million square metres of photo paper are brought onto the market every year, which are coated with a PE layer as standard. Approximately 45 g of polyethylene is required per square metre. A simple extrapolation therefore shows that 2,250 tonnes of polyethylene are used annually for photographic paper alone. Added to this is a significant amount of residual waste when these papers are disposed of, as they cannot be recycled.

Recycable GreenGrafX Photo Paper

With GreenGrafX Photo Paper, Sihl has developed an innovative solution to this problem. Thanks to its special barrier coating, it does not require the typical PE layer and is therefore 100% recyclable via the waste paper cycle. It is even certified according to the PTS RH 021/97 Category II method commonly used in the recycling environment.

At the same time, it fulfils all the important properties for photo printing and is available both as a glossy variant (3617) and with a satinised surface coating (3616). This makes it suitable for all common applications in photo printing and can replace conventional PE-film-coated photo paper 1:1.

With this innovation, Sihl is making an important contribution to sustainability. We are therefore very proud to announce that GreenGrafX Photo Paper has been nominated for the DNP Products in the transformation field of resources.

German Sustainability Award

With five competitions, over 800 applicants and around 2,000 guests at the closing ceremony, the German Sustainability Award is the largest award of its kind in Europe for ecological and social commitment. This year, the prize is being awarded for the 17th time. It honours exemplary sustainability achievements in
business, local authorities and research and is awarded by the German Sustainability Award Foundation, in
cooperation with the German government and the German Council for Sustainable Development, among others.

This year, the DNP is awarding a prize in the ‘Products’ category for the first time. The evaluation is carried out by the service provider Score4more, whereby information about the product as well as information about the company are included in the assessment. The decisive factor here is always the transformation contribution, i.e. the impact that a product has with regard to the change towards sustainability.