Circular entrepreneur Peter van Rosmalen: "My goal is not to get rich, but to show that things can be done differently"

"Grandpa, if you finish everything, what will be left for us when we grow up?" That question from his granddaughter got entrepreneur Peter van Rosmalen thinking about his own role and responsibility in sustainability. "I didn't have an answer, but I did think: change starts with me." His personal motivation coincided with a professional insight. "On business trips I saw in countries like China and India that huge amounts of agricultural waste are burned. A crying shame, because it contains cellulose, the raw material for paper. So why don't we use that?"

Van Rosmalen came up with the idea of using agricultural waste to produce circular paper. "At the time I was working as a key account manager at Moonen Packaging where I was increasingly concerned with sustainability in recent years. Because my then employer is a wholesaler and not a paper producer, I couldn't go there with my plan. So I started for myself with only a good idea, great enthusiasm and no means. After catching a bone at several European paper mills ("Peter, we have trees after all"), he found a mill in India that did see merit in his plans. "This mill initially produced paper that was 55-60% agricultural waste and the rest eucalyptus from small local farms. After several rounds of trials, it managed to produce copy paper that could compete qualitatively with European paper. This mill now processes one million tons of agricultural waste per year. By now, most of the paper is made from 100% agricultural waste, and the goal is to make all paper from 100% agricultural waste."

Tipping Point

When the first packs of circular paper were ready, Van Rosmalen ran into a wall of skepticism. "My paper was slightly more expensive and had no FSC certification because that is based on sustainable forestry and we use precisely no wood. An EU Ecolabel was also not possible because that is linked to FSC. In other words, my product was more sustainable, but it did not fit with the existing labels. To break through that, I had an independent life cycle analysis (LCA) done at my own expense. The result: our paper is 47% less environmentally damaging than European paper, even if you include transportation from India to our warehouse." The LCA was a tipping point and provided the necessary credibility and legitimacy. "What also helped is that my first colleague (now co-shareholder) suggested building a brand; that's how PaperWise came about. The brand gave us an identity and face; it was one of the best decisions ever."

New phase

From that moment on, PaperWise entered its next phase. "We won several awards, including the Next Entrepreneur Award. Suddenly big organizations like VNO-NCW, Accenture, Lufthansa and several other big brands did know where to find us. Tony Chocolony and KPN had their annual reports printed on our paper. There were requests from the market for other products, such as packaging material. We partnered with cardboard and packaging manufacturers and supplied paper for coffee cups, bags, soap boxes and even Coldplay merchandise, among others. One of our biggest orders was for the World Expo in Dubai, for which one million tote bags were produced from PaperWise paper.

Government: lead by example!

Not everything went well. "Corona hit hard," says the entrepreneur. "Everyone started working from home and the demand for copy paper plummeted. We invested in a new ERP system, which turned out to be much more expensive than expected, the appointment of a new sales manager did not deliver the desired sales, an attempt to introduce white cardboard failed and one of our main suppliers closed its doors." Then there is the frustration that municipalities, provinces and central government all shout that they consider sustainability so important but, as the largest paper consumers, don't act on it. "It is painful and contradictory; advocating circular economy and just using FSC paper from trees ourselves, even though our product is hardly more expensive and much more environmentally friendly."

Leergeld

In the end it is all learning money, he says: "Falling down and getting up is part of pioneering." Peter and his wife even sold their home to invest in the business. "We keep innovating and it's paying off. We are now working with European manufacturers on labels, tags and coatings for food packaging. There are plans to market finished products ourselves for the first time and to work more on our brand awareness. At a trade show in Barcelona, a major Paperwise customer recently won the award for the most sustainable label. So despite setbacks, there are also many highlights.

Future

Another highlight and perhaps a promise for the future is that his daughter Marieke has joined the company. One of the grandchildren helps out occasionally; succession is being considered. "To further grow PaperWise, I also don't rule out the possibility of us merging or collaborating with a larger company someday. The condition is that the mission remains intact."

Source: ESZL.nl