11 Oct
2006 - Gland, Switzerland – While some of Europe’s
leading tissue manufacturers have made improvements
to their environmental performances, many gaps
remain.
As part of its annual environmental
performance assessment, five “giant” tissue manufacturers
that make up 75 per cent of the European market
— Georgia-Pacific, Kimberly-Clark, Metsa Tissue,
Procter & Gamble and SCA Tissue — were scored
by WWF across a range of criteria, including their
levels of recycled content, wood sourcing practices,
pollution control and transparency.
This year, two of the five companies
achieved a score of over 50 per cent, compared
with none in 2005. Metsa Tissue received a 53
per cent score, while SCA Tissue achieved 69 per
cent, the only company to get a “green mark”.
SCA Tissue, the producer of
such brands as Danke, Edet, Zewa, Cosy and Velvet,
is the only surveyed company that is able to ensure
that wood fibres used in its products don’t come
from poorly-managed forests. This manufacturer
also promotes the highest environmental and social
standards in forest management, reaching 89 per
cent of the achievable scores on sourcing. Metsa
Tissue is the only company to increase recycled
fibre levels in its consumer products.
The WWF assessment shows that
Metsa Tissue, Georgia-Pacific, Kimberly-Clark
and Proctor & Gamble have become more aware
of the need to address controversial wood sourcing.
However, the companies still fail to show how
they effectively exclude the use of timber which
is linked to unsustainable forest exploitation,
illegal logging and land rights conflict.
“We welcome the improvements
made, but we urge these companies to seriously
work on the persistent weaknesses identified in
the assessment,” said Helma Brandlmaier from WWF’s
Global Forests Programme.
In 2005, WWF highlighted low
levels of recycled fibres being used in toilet
paper, paper towels and napkins offered in retail
markets. This trend has worsened in 2006, according
to the global conservation organization.
“As a result, trees from natural
forests and plantations from around the world
are unnecessarily wasted and land straight in
our toilets and bins,” Brandlmaier added.
“Consumers should compare the
different tissue products and buy those with the
best environmental records.”
The European tissue business
is worth around €8.5 billion annually, and accounts
for 26 per cent of global tissue consumption,
with each European using 13kg — the equivalent
of approximately 22 billion rolls of toilet paper.
WWF is critical of retailers
who demand virgin fibre for luxury, bright white
and fluffy tissue products.
“At a time when the world’s
natural forests are under severe pressure because
of the skyrocketing demand for all kinds of timber
products, retailers should be offering the most
environmentally-friendly tissue products to their
customers,” said Brandlmaier.
“Customers should urge retailers
to stock recycled tissues. The tissue ‘giants’
should be producing forest-friendly products in
the first place.”
WWF will rescore the companies
again in 2007.
END NOTES:
• The comparative leader in
the evaluation across all the criteria is SCA
Tissue with 69% of total achievable points (also
first in 2005 with 46 %), followed by Metsa Tissue
with 53% (also second in 2005 with 35%); Kimberly
Clark 40% (which has moved up from last place
in 2005 with 24%), Procter and Gamble 34% (also
fourth in 2005 with 26%), and Georgia Pacific
27% (which has dropped from third place with 32%
to last place).
• The comparative leader on
responsible sourcing is SCA Tissue with 89% (58%
in 2005); followed by Procter and Gamble with
34% (32% in 2005); Metsa Tissue 31% (18% in 2005)
, Georgia Pacific 23% (12% in 2005) and last Kimberly
Clark with 20% (18% in 2005).
Helma Brandlmaier
