Pirmasens shines: third place in the 2025 paper atlas competition!

Pirmasens shines: third place in the 2025 paper atlas competition!

Pirmasens is causing a stir: the city took an impressive third place in the nationwide Paper Atlas city competition 2025. The ceremonial handover took place on November 4th at the Federal Environment Ministry in Berlin, where MayorMichael Maasthe award from the Parliamentary State SecretaryRita Schwarzelühr-Sutterwas allowed to receive. A total of 110 large and medium-sized cities took part in this competition, which documents paper consumption and the use of recycled paper with the “Blue Angel” environmental label in public administrations, schools and in-house printing companies.

With a clear commitment to sustainable procurement, Pirmasens has only used “Blue Angel” paper in all areas for years. Procurement takes place via a cooperative contract with the Central Procurement Office of Rhineland-Palatinate, which sets binding environmental criteria. This not only has environmentally friendly effects, but also results in tangible savings: In 2024, by using recycled paper, the city saved over 358,000 liters of water and more than 80,800 kilowatt hours of energy compared to virgin fiber paper - this corresponds to the daily water needs of around 2,950 people and the annual electricity consumption of 23 three-person households.

Important recognition for sustainable achievements

Marc Gebauer, spokesman for the Pro Recycling Paper Initiative, praised Pirmasens as a pioneer in sustainable paper procurement. Mayor Maas pointed out the importance of this award for the city's long-term sustainability strategy. The paper atlas, which has been published annually since 2008, not only documents the recycled paper quotas of German cities, but also promotes the visibility and importance of sustainable paper procurement.

As part of the competition, the participants have developed into real powerhouses in environmental protection. The Paper Atlas 2024, which recorded record participation from 244 municipalities and universities last year, impressively shows that awareness of recycled paper is continuously growing. Overall, the participants achieved gigantic savings of 130 gigawatt hours of energy, 576 million liters of water and over 2,000 tons of CO2 equivalent in one year Papieratlas.de explained.

The top places at a glance

The Paper Atlas 2025 ranking shows that Pirmasens is not alone on the road to success. Over 90% recycled paper quota was achieved in 99 large and medium-sized cities. This shows that efforts to procure environmentally friendly paper are very popular throughout Germany. The city of Bremen was awarded in the “Most Recycled Paper Friendly City” category, while Cochem-Zell received the title for the best district.

The Blue Angel guarantees that the recycled paper used is made from 100 percent waste paper. The initiative, supported by the Federal Environment Ministry and the Federal Environment Agency, among others, impressively shows that environmental protection and paper management can go hand in hand. The Pirmasens award is also seen as an incentive for other cities to take similar measures to strengthen sustainable development.