Why Straw Is Suddenly Becoming A Strategic Packaging Material

Alternative fibres are gaining importance in the paper and packaging industry. OutNature and LEIPA are driving forward the development of fibre-based packaging with a new straw fibre production plant, focusing on a broader raw material base, regional raw material sources and the circular economy.

Bales of straw on a freshly cut field — OutNature and LEIPA aim to combine recycled fibre and straw fibre into a high-performance paper for packaging applications.

As an official sponsor of this year’s German Packaging Congress in Berlin, OutNature put key future issues facing the paper and packaging industry centre stage. Under the motto “Now More Than Ever! Leveraging Entrepreneurial Room for Action Along the Supply Chain”, the focus was on supply security, circular economy and the expansion of the raw material base.

A central theme of the company’s presence was the use of resources that have so far been underestimated. In his keynote, Sales Director Thomas Strieder explained how agricultural residues can be processed for paper production. His conclusion: transforming straw into high-quality paper fibre is a decisive lever for paving the way towards a genuine, functioning circular economy.

Thomas Strieder, Sales Director at OutNature, outlined at the German Packaging Congress why straw is gaining strategic relevance as an alternative fibre source for the paper and packaging industry.

Supply Security is Becoming a Strategic Issue

For the paper and packaging industry, 2026 is bringing new challenges and changing framework conditions. Markets, regulations and supply security are evolving dynamically, making strategic decisions more complex.

“We clearly see that the industry is moving away from purely material-based discussions towards systemic questions. It is no longer just about which material is used, but where it comes from, how stable the supply is, and how well it can be integrated into existing circular systems,” emphasises Thomas Strieder. He adds: “Supply security, regulatory requirements and environmental impacts are increasingly interacting and together becoming a driver of innovation.”

Against this backdrop, alternative fibres are coming more sharply into focus because they address several challenges at once. According to OutNature, wood as a raw material is finite and subject to growing competing demands. At the same time, demand for fibre-based packaging continues to rise.

Plant fibres such as silphium, straw and paludiculture biomass are opening up new possibilities here. They grow back quickly, can be cultivated in Germany, and broaden the industry’s raw material base.

Straw Fibre as an Alternative in the Raw Material Mix

Since 2019, OutNature has been working on plant-based fibre solutions as a start-up within the PreZero family of companies. The company positions itself as an innovation driver for alternative fibre solutions, creating future-viable material cycles from research through to market readiness. In OutNature’s view, straw fibre offers more than an ecological alternative: it is intended to provide a concrete answer to the pressing resource question in the paper and packaging industry.

By using straw, a by-product that does not require any additional cultivation area, the company aims to offer an alternative to virgin wood fibre. At the same time, OutNature points out that regional sourcing in north-eastern Germany can help reduce CO₂ emissions thanks to shorter transport routes.

Preparations for the company’s own straw fibre production plant are progressing at full speed. The first fibres from in-house production are expected to roll off the line in the fourth quarter of 2026. LEIPA plans to use the straw fibres at its Schwedt/Oder site in combination with recovered paper. The site currently processes more than one million tonnes of recovered paper per year to produce various papers for packaging and graphic applications.

LEIPA Synergy Combines Recycled Fibre and Straw Fibre

An important milestone in the partnership with LEIPA is the launch of the jointly developed straw paper under the name “LEIPA Synergy”. The name is intended to stand for the combination of technical know-how and alternative, plant-based raw material sources. “Synergy stands for the joint path that LEIPA and OutNature are taking. It describes the result when technical know-how and alternative, plant-based raw material sources interlock,” the company says. The plan is for LEIPA’s papers to be produced at the Schwedt/Oder plant from 2027 onwards.

Initial test results confirm the potential of this combination: the strength properties of the straw fibres significantly exceed those of conventional recovered paper fibres. On this basis, the companies expect “LEIPA Synergy” to become a technically high-performance paper product.

The project thus illustrates how alternative raw material sources, industrial partnerships and regional value creation can come together to form a new approach for the paper industry.

Editor: Alexander Stark, FACHPACK360°