Issues with tissues

“Stop flushing our forests down the toilet” says WWFEurope’s five top manufactures of toilet tissue are still using unsustainably sourced timber. That’s the headline finding of the latest WWF report on the industry.

The campaign group has been checking on the industry annually, and does credit two of the big five with showing improvement - SCA Tissue (the only manufacturing giant with a working commitment to forest management) and Metsa Tissue. Procter & Gamble and Georgia Pacific, however, are still slated for poor environmental performance. So is Kimberly-Clark, which has its work cut out to meet its pledge to phase out controversial, or even illegal, suppliers.

WWF suggests that consumers can make a difference by choosing recycled paper over non-recycled. Many supermarkets stock own-brand 100% recycled toilet paper, which is often cheaper than the non-recycled options.

Neither Kimberly-Clark nor Proctor & Gamble, the two top UK industry players, report the recycled content of their products. Their quilted, aloe vera scented offerings are best avoided. The two big UK brand names for 100% recycled are SCA’s Naturelle, and Nouvelle from Georgia Pacific - but WWF says the latter needs to “substantially improve” the unsustainable sourcing that blights its other products. - Velika Talyarkhan

11 January 2007

Velika Talyarkhan