Buyer Be Confident: Essential Fibre Strategies on the Road to Sustainability
Suppliers of tissue and towel products have traditionally focused on the amount of recycled fibre content of these products when making environmentally conscious purchase decisions. The current thinking is: If a product is recycled, then it must be good for the environment, and the more recycled content there is, the better.
Certainly, utilising recycled fibre helps to reduce the demand on natural forests, so it is always good to think about recycling. However, is using recycled fibre the only solution? Are there other strategies that can help us reduce pressure on forests?
While It is Good to Recycle, It is Time to Reduce
Source reduction is a more holistic concept that can be considered during many, if not all, of the purchasing decisions businesses and product users make. Product manufacturers with strategies aligned with this concept strive to change the design, manufacture, purchase and use of materials to reduce their amount before they become waste -- in other words, using less and leaving more for the future.
Because product usage and waste generation rates are tangible outputs that can be measured, innovative manufacturing technologies, product platforms, packaging and dispensing techniques can be developed to help minimise these outputs, thereby enhancing source reduction and reducing environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle of the product.
It's also important to remember that, when it comes to tissue and towel products, the balance of recycled and virgin fibre content may play a role in product usage and waste generation. Often, including some virgin fibre will improve product performance and therefore reduce consumption. This is another important consideration when working to reduce pressure on natural forests and ecosystems.
Sustainable Fibre Sourcing
In reality, recycled fibres eventually wear out and are inevitably lost during the recovery process. Therefore, even at optimal recycling rates, some estimate that we would run out of fibre for making paper products within a few months if virgin fibre was not added to the system.
Given the world's continuing reliance on virgin fibre in combination with the rate of global population and economic growth, the world's forests are under more pressure than ever. Sustainable forest management practices are no longer a "nice to do," they are an economic, social and environmental imperative.
Sustainable forest management aims to ensure that the goods and services derived from the forest meet present-day needs while at the same time securing their continued availability and contribution to long-term development. Among other things, it aims to protect wildlife and sensitive ecosystems through the use of best practices in sustainable forestry and economically viable management of timberlands for sustainable renewal and growth.
Third-party forest certification has emerged as an important tool to measure and communicate the social and environmental performance of forest operations. With forest certification, an independent organisation develops standards of good forest management, and independent auditors issue certificates to forest operations that comply with those standards. This certification verifies that forests are well-managed – as defined by a particular standard – and ensures that certain wood and paper products come from responsibly managed forests.
The World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development suggest that purchasers ask several key questions when purchasing sustainable paper-based products:
- Origin: Where do the products come from?
- Information accuracy: Is information about the products credible?
- Legality: Have the products been legally produced?
- Sustainability: Have forests been sustainably managed?
- Special places: Have special places, including sensitive ecosystems, been protected?
- Climate change: Have climate change issues been addressed?
- Environmental protection: Have appropriate environmental controls been applied?
- Recycled fibre: Has recycled fibre been used appropriately?
- Other resources: Have other resources been used appropriately?
- Local communities and indigenous people: Have the needs of local communities or indigenous people been addressed?
Forestry Management Certification Systems
There are several organisations that certify wood and wood-based products:
- The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
- The Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI)
- The Canadian Standards Association's (CSA) National Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Standard CAN/CSA-Z809
- Sistema Brasileiro de Certificacao Florestal (CERFLOR)
- Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC)
Chain of Custody
Chain-of-custody certification tracks possession and transfer of wood fibre products from the forest to the consumer, including all stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution. Products are independently audited by an accredited certifier as meeting chain-of-custody requirements of the standards above and are labeled as such. The label is a signal to consumers and businesses that the fibre in the product comes from well-managed forests or other approved sources, providing confidence that the raw materials used to make the products are sourced to required standards.
Making Product Choices
Taking into account a more comprehensive set of considerations is necessary when making environmentally responsible decisions regarding fibre-based products. These considerations span the range from recycled content to source reduction and responsible virgin fibre use.
Using products made with sustainable fibre may also help facilities achieve Green Building certification. In fact, the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC's) LEED 2009 For Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) rating system requires buildings to have in place an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing policy before the building can be LEED-certified. Buildings can obtain one LEED-EB point for purchases that consist of at least 50 percent FSC-certified paper products. Buildings can work toward a second LEED-EB point by using sustainable janitorial paper products, including microfibre tools and wipes. Another LEED-EB point can be obtained, in part, by meeting the minimum requirements of one or more of the following programs relating to washroom paper products:
- EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for Janitorial Paper.
- Green Seal GS-09 for paper towels and napkins.
- Green Seal GS-01 for tissue paper.
- Environmental Choice CCD-082 for toilet tissue.
- Environmental Choice CCD-086 for hand towels.
- Janitorial paper products derived from rapidly renewable resources or made from tree-free fibres.
Savvy facility managers and building owners could use their LEED certification or their sustainable fibre sourcing policies as a marketing tool to improve tenant satisfaction, tenant retention and tenant acquisition rates.
Conclusion
While they may not be as trendy as "100 percent recycled fibre" products, tissue and towel products made with responsibly sourced recycled and virgin fibres can help people use less, waste less, and leave more for the future. With a little bit of legwork, businesses can find suppliers that share the belief that environmental protection is critical to business success and that integrate environmental considerations like sustainable fibre sourcing into all aspects of their operations and product development.
By Lisa Morden, Global Sustainability Leader, KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL*
