We started this journey with two goals: make toilet paper that’s kind to the planet and gives back to the people living on it. We’re proud that we have stayed true to these goals by creating products that are produced thoughtfully with the environmental impact in mind. Since our humble beginnings we've managed to:
- July 2019: Remove the Reverte™ oxo-biodegradable plastic inserts at the top of our tissue boxes (oxo-biodegradable plastic oxidises and then degrades in the presence of 4-8 hours of continuous exposure to oxygen and sunlight). These inserts are designed to help keep the contents moisture free and hygienic, as well as keep the whole lot from pulling out each time you reach for a tissue. We removed this insert because ever-evolving research and discussion around the merits of bio plastics demonstrated risks of plastic waste ending up in an environment in which it can’t degrade the way it was designed to.
- May 2020: Our supermarket six-packs that were previously wrapped in oxo-biodegradable plastic were transitioned to paper wrapping. This step officially marked the end of any plastic use within our manufactured products 🎉
Where do you currently use plastic in your supply chain?
While in an ideal world, our entire supply chain would be 100% plastic free, as of right now, these are the places you will find plastic:
Right now our boxes are sealed with plastic tape. We have run a number of tests on different varieties of paper tape in order to ensure that it is strong enough to make it from the factory to customers intact. We've constantly been working to develop the right solution and the great news is that we have zeroed in on a super high quality option! We plan to roll this out to all of our packaging by the end of 2023. We're nearly there, watch this space!
A note on multi-box strapping
As of July 2019 we no longer use plastic strapping on any of our multi-box shipments globally. However, if a carrier partner damages a box in transit or a tear in our packaging needs to be repaired, we have seen instances of courier drivers using plastic tape or materials to fix the box. We do encourage the use of paper tape but unfortunately this process is sometimes out of hands.
We want every delivery that arrives to your door to be plastic free by the end of 2022. It’s not easy, but we think it’s the right thing to do, and if you have more ideas for ways we can improve, we’d love to hear them—we’re on this spaceship called Earth together, so help us get better!