Are recycled paper and luxury brands compatible? “Absolutely,” according to the experts at BAGS BY RIEDLE. The paper bag producer is meeting the needs of international customers and has tapped into a new growth market with greenium brand paper.
A designer dress with a price tag over 1,000 euros packed in a recycled paper bag: A few years ago, the mere idea would have still been shocking to some. But just like expensive dresses today are increasingly using recycled cashmere, silk, or nylon, sophisticated shopping bags without a single virgin fiber are now en vogue.
Trailblazers in the premium segment are driving this move towards sustainable solutions. BAGS BY RIEDLE, from Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is one example. Its bags can be found in boutiques, perfume stores, department stores, and even places like car dealerships – basically anywhere where premium brands are at home.
Quality Counts
As a first, the company’s new “RIEDLE Pure” is made exclusively with recycled paper. More specifically, paper from Koehler Paper’s greenium brand. And the collection has met with tremendous success: “Sales of RIEDLE Pure are going up every month, and I’m confident that this trend will Corinna Tanak is RIEDLE’s Field Account Manager and kickstarted the new line, raising the bar for environmentally conscious bags. Her choice when selecting the right paper? greenium by Koehler, a company with which RIEDLE has a long-standing partnership.
I loved how it felt right away. It was incredible, as was the large selection of colors.
RIEDLE Field Account Manager
Corinna Tanak, RIEDLE Field Account Manager
RIEDLE’s headquarters in Langenbrettach, north of Heilbronn.
Dispelling Myths
“When Koehler showed us their greenium range, I loved how it felt right away. It was incredible, as was the large selection of colors,” Tanak recounts. “So we decided to test greenium – more accurately, the products in the brand’s Koehler Eco® line.” What followed was the beginning of a success story that is still being written.
When Tanak talks to new customers, she often hears some old myths: Paper from secondary fibers has a higher speck count, a gray background, dull colors. “But none of that is true of greenium,” Tanak says. In fact, customers who want to see and feel greenium paper in the flesh can do so at RIEDLE’s showroom north of the German city of Heilbronn.
RIEDLE’s elegant bags are highly sought after by many luxury brands.
A Targeted Investment
That’s where the shopping bag specialist showcases its latest models. “greenium offers amazing printing and finishing properties and incredible tear resistance,” Tanak adds. “Not to mention that we can now work with a paper product that has the ‘Blue Angel’ eco-label and that is as good as products made with virgin fibers, if not better.”
The ability to deliver this kind of premium result with secondary fibers is the fruit of extensive efforts by Koehler. “We invested in new technologies at our German mill in Greiz, especially in cutting-edge waste processing,” explains Koehler Paper Wholesale Sales Director Christoph Braun.
There is no single criterion where greenium recycled paper is inferior to premium virgin fiber paper.
Paper Wholesale Sales Director at Koehler Paper
Customers can check the feel and colors of bag models to their heart’s content at RIEDLE’s showroom.
Christoph Braun, Paper Wholesale Sales Director at Koehler Paper
Same as With Virgin Fibers
Another specialty from Greiz: colors in the style of custom corporate designs. “When people want a specific color, we usually only need a couple of sheets of paper to analyze at our lab and reproduce it. Our mill in Greiz is well-known for that!” End customers can then crease, fold, hot foil stamp, or emboss the paper – with the same uncompromising quality as with virgin fiber paper.
In other words, customers can continue to rely on the design options that make their luxury brands so distinctive while protecting the environment with recycled paper. Not to mention that RIEDLE bags are made to last, so that consumers can keep reusing them for a long time.
recycled paper fibers are the basis for greenium and for RIEDLE Pure from BAGS BY RIEDLE.
colors make up the growing color palette for greenium paper as of May 2026. Additional ones are available upon request.
is the maximum time it takes paper wholesaler IGEPA to deliver Koehler Paper premium recycled paper to customers in Germany.
Endlessly Reusable
And it’s something that luxury customers love, as Corinna Tanak explains: “When a paper bag looks great and is sturdy, people don’t throw it out.” Whether used as gift packaging, as a way to carry clothing or jewelry, or when out shopping, these bags provide brands with invaluable exposure. “And all of it with 100% secondary fibers,” Tanak adds.
