Recycled Loo Role Threatened

“The biggest challenge, especially for our toilet-Paper products, is perceived softness,” says Martin Wolf, director of product and environmental technology at Seventh Generation. The best recycled toilet Paper is made using the long fibres that good office Paper retains. However, a high demand for waste Paper from China in particular but also the growth of waste reduction culture and the use of electronic media in general has meant the “cost of office waste Paper has skyrocketed (more than doubled) in the last six months,” according to Jeff Phillips, executive vice president of operations at Seventh Generation.

This is turn jeopardises the quality of recycled toilet rolls whose softness relies on those long fibres. “We look for the longest fiber possible for strength and absorbency, and as flexible a fiber as possible so toilet tissue is soft,” says Wolf. Virgin wood pulp affords the best toilet Paper, office waste Paper comes next and doesn’t require the felling of trees. With the increased cost of office waste, things look uncertain for the future of recycled loo rolls.