State of the Industry: Folding Cartons — Doing Well and Getting Better

Markens comments, “We ought to be riding that horse all the way to town because we have the best story to tell. Sure there are some challenges. We need to [make our boxes more light-weight], but sustainability in the long run is our friend.”

Telling the paperboard story is key. “It takes about a million years and a couple thousand dinosaurs to produce oil,” Markens says. “Resin-based products like plastic are oil-based. We can grow a tree to make paper in 12 years. They’re not making anymore dinosaurs. We are absolutely the only renewable resource. So that’s the main thing we can do as a council—tell that story better.”