Can the transition from plastic to NexPlus® paper packaging generate cost savings for brand owners?

With the current instabilities of plastic supply and prices soaring around the world, transitioning from plastic to NexPlus® paper packaging is a viable alternative that is not only more sustainable, but can be cost effective too.

Total Cost of Ownership – More Than Just Material Costs

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate designed to help determine the direct and indirect costs of a product or service. When switching from plastic to paper packaging, it’s important to consider not only material and converting costs but also indirect costs such as EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) fees.

Practical Example: Comparing Oatmeal Packaging

We analyzed two scenarios for packaging with identical dimensions (300 mm x 265 mm) and 500 grams of product content produced in Germany and sold for different countries:

• Scenario 1: OPP film (Oriented Polypropylene), 73 gsm (80 micron). This grammage is commonly used for this type of oatmeal bag with 500 grams of content.
• Scenario 2: Koehler NexPlus® Seal Pure, 80 gsm – CEPI-certified, recyclable, heat-sealable. The sealing coating is a water-based dispersion coating with an application weight of 4 gsm. Dispersion coating is an established process in paper manufacturing.

Material Costs

Scenario 1: To simulate the material costs of polypropylene, the average market price of the PP (Polypropylene) pellets in Germany in March 2026 was used, and it was simulated that the extrusion occurred in Germany in large scale extruder to final thickness of 80 microns OPP (Oriented Polypropylene) film (73 gsm).

Scenario 2: The market price of NexPlus Seal Pure 80 gsm is the one considered as standard by Koehler Paper. It would be possible to use a lower paper grammage, but the assumption of 10% higher grammage difference is an extreme scenario to show that even in these conditions, paper can have cost advantage.

Converting costs

For both situations, the costs in Germany of flexographic printing process with 5 colors, a batch size of 400.000 units, same printing layout for plastic and paper, besides the slitting and packaging of rolls were considered.

For the NexPlus® paper packaging, 10% more premium due to SG&A (Sales, General and Administrative expenses) were considered compared to plastic. But no additional costs of ink consumption when printing on paper and no additional profit for converter were considered.

EPR costs

To simulate the EPR costs per country, the software Recyda was used, considering the material specifications and regulations from each country.

Results

To not disclose the price itself, the TCO is considering material, converting and EPR costs in EUR/100 m2 and will be referenced as 100% for the plastic packaging (scenario 1). Then, it is possible to compare it with the paper packaging (scenario 2).

As mentioned, it is considered that the packaging is produced in Germany, with material and converting costs from Germany, but different EPR costs depending on where the product will be commercialized.

Belgium

If the packaging is commercialized in Belgium, the total cost per 100/m2 of packaging is 18,4 % lower for scenario 2 compared to scenario 1.

Spain

If the packaging is commercialized in Spain, the total cost per 100/m2 of packaging is 12,3 % lower for scenario 2 compared to scenario 1. Besides the EPR cost, in Spain the plastic tax is considered too, showing a great advantage when paper is used.

Netherlands

If the packaging is commercialized in Netherlands, the total cost per 100/m2 of packaging is 8,5 % lower for scenario 2 compared to scenario 1

Germany

If the packaging is commercialized in Germany, the total cost per 100/m2 of packaging is approximately the same for scenario 2 compared to scenario 1.

Illustrative Case*

Considering that the oatmeal company, located in Germany, sells 47,169,811 packages per year with the dimensions (300 mm x 265 mm) each packaging. That represents the consumption of 300 tons of NexPlus® Seal Pure 80 gsm paper.

In this case, if 40% of sales go to Germany, 25% to Spain, 20% to the Netherlands and 15% to Belgium, the brand owner can save 136.016 Euros per year after switching from plastic to NexPlus® paper.

Your Advantage: Sustainability and Cost Savings

With Koehler NexPlus® barrier paper, you not only meet recyclability and end consumer requirements to reduce plastic but also significantly generate cost savings.

Interested?
Our expert team at Koehler will create a customized simulation tailored to your project and target countries so you can simulate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and benefit from NexPlus® paper packaging.


Schedule your appointment now and discover your competitive edge!

*This case is fictional and for illustrative purposes only