UK supermarket Tesco is rolling out a range of beige toilet roll and kitchen towel made from used cardboard. The recycled cardboard content in the rolls accounts for a minimum of 70 per cent, with the remainder of the pulp derived from other recycled paper sources, the supermarket giant says.
Tesco and its supplier, WEPA, have invested in technology that makes it possible to turn the corrugated cardboard, in part from the rapid growth since the pandemic of home delivery services, into soft toilet roll and absorbent kitchen towel.
The recycled cardboard such as home delivery boxes and corrugated card from supermarkets is combined with other recycled paper sources, mixed with water to create a pulp and cleaned to create suitable fibres for use in paper production.
Tesco’s household category director, Philip Banks, said, “The explosion of home deliveries since the pandemic has created an abundance of recyclable cardboard boxes right on our doorstep. The manufacturing process our supplier has developed, that turns them into incredibly soft toilet roll and kitchen towel, allows us to create a second, sustainable use for them that couldn’t be more different.”
The innovative pulp production process claims to use less water, chemicals and energy compared to using traditional tree fibre as the raw material. The paper is unbleached, giving the products their beige colour.
