DE PERE (NBC 26) — We maybe think of paper as what comes out of your printer or its other common uses.
Leaders of the industry say it's so much more. Today, almost everywhere you look, paper will be in your sights.
"Guaranteed, you are seeing our products every single day," Ahlstrom Munksjo head of public affairs Addie Teeters said.
At Ahlstrom Munksjo, they're using paper to make microwave popcorn bags, the liners around a Reese's peanut butter cup, and Starburst wrappers.
"We really believe that the demand is going to increase for our products," Teeters said.
That's because the world is moving away from a paper competitor - plastic.
"Not only is the paper industry and our plants continuing to evolve to keep up with that war on plastic pace, but it really is making the state of Wisconsin strong in terms of the paper industry once again because we have so many valuable options to replace plastic," Teeters said.
The future possibilities are nearly endless.
"The real key is finding that niche, looking at that, creating a product," Green Bay Innovation Group's Marty Ochs said.
Ochs said that new wave of thinking is critical because the old way has faded away.
"From 2008 through the next seven, eight years, there was a lot of decline in the industry," he said.
In that time, several facilities closed and workers were layed off.
"Through that period there was a lot of consolidation," Ochs said.
Today, the industry seems to have stabalized. There are other challenges. Workers are retiring and leaving paper mills. Where the market is going in the next ten years is really hard to predict.
"The challenge, I think, is anticipating where the industry wants to go, anticipating which paper products you need to put your efforts into," Ochs said.
Part of that will be consumer demand.. It's hard to predict, but it also creates an opportunity for local companies.
"Those folks are continuing to develop and innovate solutions that we've never even attempted to try before," Teeters said. "It's really, really exciting to be in the industry right now."
