The Koehler Group Continues to Drive Sustainable Development Forward

The report provides a transparent look at the progress made in the company’s defined objectives for 2030 and clearly illustrates key developments in the strategy’s six Areas of Action. “In an environment like the one we have right now, where macroeconomic conditions are anything but great, you can really see the things that make a family business like ours work: cohesion, resolve, and the will to lay the right foundation for tomorrow today. That’s where our sustainability strategy comes in: with clearly defined objectives, measurable KPIs, and specific projects,” explains Kai Furler, Koehler Group CEO.

Innovation as a Driver of Growth
A key area of focus for the reporting year was the development of future-proof products. More specifically, Koehler Paper, a Koehler Group company, is offering an alternative to plastic packaging in the form of its flexible packaging paper products. These innovative offerings are recyclable, can contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions, and can help customers improve their environmental footprint.
At the same time, the company continues to focus on increasing transparency in regard to its products: For the first time ever, product environmental footprints were prepared for products made at the company’s Oberkirch mill as well. In turn, these indicators provide a solid basis for assessing environmental impacts over a product’s entire lifecycle.

Strengthened Climate Protection
With the “Langer Wald” wind farm going online, the company’s own renewable energy production capabilities continue to grow – an important step towards keeping the Koehler promise of generating, on an annual basis, more energy from renewable sources than is required for its paper production operations by 2030. And progress is well underway, with more than 98% of that promise fulfilled in 2025 already.

In addition, the Koehler Group’s climate targets were validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This means that these targets are not only scientifically sound and measurable, but also systematically aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Efficiency, Resources, and Supply Chains in Focus
Innovative technologies, such as a heat recovery system retrofitted on a coating machine at the Koehler Paper mill in Kehl, Germany, are helping improve energy efficiency and cut emissions. And at the same time, the company is strengthening its own supply chains, with its virgin fibers originating 100% from sustainable forestry and controlled sources today already.

In addition to environmental issues, people continue to be an absolutely vital success factor, and this is reflected in the company’s targeted investments in training, apprenticeships, and continuing professional development. In fact, the two targets set in this regard – a training rate of 4% and more than 25 advanced training hours a year per employee – were exceeded in 2025 already. This is complemented by the Koehler Group’s efforts in the area of work–life improvements, with a prime example being the company’s own new Gretel-Furler daycare center close to its headquarters in Oberkirch.

Challenges Turned Into Incentives
The report is also transparent about objectives in which the Koehler Group still needs to catch up. A large part of this is due to adverse economic factors, such as high industrial electricity rates, that represent significant headwinds for energy-intensive companies. The Koehler Group is tackling these challenges by systematically expanding its own sources of renewable energy while simultaneously calling for consistent and predictable political conditions that will enable Germany to continue being a competitive industrial hub.

The new sustainability report makes one thing clear: Sustainability is not a one-off project at the Koehler Group, but rather an integral part of the company’s evolution – today and in the future. This is corroborated by the fact that the company has once again been awarded the EcoVadis platinum medal, which puts the Koehler Group in the best one percent of all rated companies across the globe.