The Brief
The Confederation of Paper Industries sought an environmental PR agency to launch Papercycle, the UK’s first recyclability assessment method for paper and board packaging products. Papercycle helps producers and specifiers determine whether their product is either recyclable in standard paper mills, recyclable in specialist paper mills or not recyclable.
The development of Papercycle follows the release of CPI Design for Recyclability Guidelines in 2022 and aims to help industry prepare for the introduction by the UK Government of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging from 2024.
In order to drive uptake, we needed to raise awareness of Papercycle and its benefits, create content to resonate with the audiences we needed to reach and signpost to the tool itself.
Insights and Approach
Our work with Papercyle began with immersion into the new service being offered. Not all paper products are as easy as others to recycle. We made sure we fully understood the benefits it offers and its importance in the context of upcoming changes to EPR regulations.
Through a workshop with the Papercycle team, we identified the priority audiences – brand owners, retailers, designers and material developers across all sectors – and built a clear narrative and messaging framework that would inspire them to action.
Our channel planning spanned social media, traditional media (earned and paid), the Papercycle website, internal comms and stakeholders’ channels. We then partnered closely with the Papercycle team through activation – writing web copy and creating engaging social media content and a stakeholder toolkit for the in-house team to implement, whilst we handled media relations.
The Outcome
29 pieces of carefully targeted editorial coverage and eight paid placements helped drive awareness of and sign up to the Papercycle service. Positive messaging and strong visuals were featured throughout.
29
editorial articles
8
paid placements
16
editorial social media posts
38
m
opportunities to see