About Us

WeedGuard Plus -
Stops weed
on biological way

Better yields froma healthy soil

Why WeedGuard Plus?

We all know that every product we buy consumes energy and resources. So each of us uses land worldwide by consuming goods or services. Like all resources, the earth’s available surface area is limited. At the same time, the soil worldwide is threatened by erosion, pollution and sealing. A situation that is exacerbated by climate change in many places.
Plastic waste in particular pollutes water cycles and affects natural ecosystems. Microplastics enter the food chain and endanger health. Plastic is not only found in water cycle and oceans. Through the use of plastic in agriculture and horticulture, among other things, plastic parts also find their way into our soil. It is estimated that, depending on location, the plastic pollution of soils is many times higher than the pollution of the seas.
As a company in the paper processing industry, we asked ourselves what our contribution to a healthier environment could be. This is how our product WeedGuard Plus was created. A biodegradable paper weed blocker for commercial and organic farms, landscapers and home gardeners as an alternative to black plastic film.

Who we are?

The company marks-3zet GmbH & Co.KG is a German company based in Mülheim an der Ruhr and the headquarter of the Dr. Jürgen Meyer Foundation in Cologne. The Dr. Jürgen Meyer Group also includes operating companies in the USA and Italy. With its more than 140 years of company history as a supplier to the graphic industry, marks-3zet is the world market leader for calibrated underpacking sheets, a special paper protected by patent.

WeedGuard Plus – a little success story

WeedGuard Plus has already been successfully distributed by our subsidiary in the USA for several years. WeedGuard Plus finds its customers in the USA, especially in the organic farming sector, as more and more companies see it as their responsibility to use only organic products for the cultivation of organic products. The biological circle closes! Also in Germany, the awareness for healthy nutrition is increasing more and more – not least because of this, the number of organic farms and the area of land they farm organically is growing. Thus marks-3zet Germany has already started to distribute WeedGuard Plus from Germany in 2018. In 2019 marks-3zet Italy has also included WeedGuard Plus in its product portfolio and in 2020 with Dr. Riccardo Poletto an agronomist was hired as an expert for the product WeedGuard Plus.

Where is WeedGuard Plus produced?

WeedGuard Plus is produced in Germany, where we trust in our longtime partner, the company Koehler. The Koehler Paper Group is a company from Oberkirch in southern Baden at the foot of the Black Forest and, as a specialty paper manufacturer, is one of the last independent family businesses in the paper industry. Koehler has been on the market since 1807. Koehler only purchases FSC and PEFC certified pulp for the production of WeedGuard Plus. The company uses waterways and rail for transport. For the Oberkirch plant, where WeedGuard Plus is produced, this is no problem due to the direct rail connection and the nearby Rhine port in Kehl. WeedGuard Plus is an uncoated paper and an ecologically completely harmless natural product.

As the production of paper is energy-intensive, Koehler founded the subsidiary Koehler Renewable Energy several years ago, which specialises exclusively in the production of energy and process steam from renewable sources. The aim is to produce more electricity and steam from renewable sources by 2030 than is needed for the company’s own paper production. At the same time, Koehler is constantly optimizing its production in order to meet its own demand for the most gentle and sustainable production possible. In some areas, the company has thus become the benchmark for the entire paper industry in Germany. In the eighth generation of the family business, tradition forms the basis for innovative and sustainable action.