Green Paper Products

When it comes to Green cleaning, most building service contractors (BSCs) are focused on the necessary environmentally preferable cleaning chemicals, tools and equipment. However, they should not forget about the impact that the paper products they provide for their customers and use in cleaning has on our planet. 

In the past 40 years, the world consumption of paper has grown nearly 400 per cent. This is one reason that billions of trees are cut down each year around the globe. 

We use paper in many more forms than we realize. Other than for obvious things such as newspapers, magazines and writing material, paper is used in packaging, stereo speakers, home insulation, inserts for shoes and many more items. In the cleaning industry, paper is most commonly used for toilet tissue, paper towels, cups as well as for the cleaning itself. 

Although trees are a sustainable resource and tree farms around the world are helping us replenish some of the trees that are cut down, they cannot keep up with how much we are using. And, don’t forget that trees provide us with much more than just paper. They produce oxygen to improve air quality, provide a home for all types of living creatures, help us deal with storm water run-off in both cities and forested areas, and protect the fragile ecological balance of our environment. 

BSCs can play a vital role in source reduction – reducing the number of trees destroyed each year to make paper – and in helping to protect our environment with a better understanding of how paper is processed, dispensed and used. Then, they can share this information with their customers, encouraging them to transfer from conventional to more environmentally preferable paper products and take other measures to use paper wisely.

 

What Makes Paper Green?

Some paper products such as toilet tissue and paper towels are certified Green by EcoLogo(M). This takes the homework out of selecting environmentally preferable paper products and allows BSCs to take the first step in helping protect the environment and this resource. To Green-certify a paper product, some of the items required are: 

• Limits on overall amount of raw material (fibre) used;
• Minimal steam and electrical energy used during pulping and paper making;
• Water pollution (toxicity and chemical oxygen demand – COD – of the liquid effluent) from the pulping and paper making process must be below certain levels;
• Air pollution must be below certain levels (limits on dioxin and furan air emissions);
• Limits on solid waste produced;
• Minimum recycled content requirements.

 

As to minimum recycled content, the EcoLogo certification is based on a load-point system, where recycled content is one of five parameters. Minimum recycled content required for certification is 20 per cent post-consumer materials from the waste stream. Currently all EcoLogo certified products contain more than 80 per cent recycled material.

 

Paper-Dispensing Applications

Although roll paper towel dispenser were common for decades, they were replaced with dispensers for folded paper towels about 30 years ago. These became the standard dispenser in most facilities until recently. The advent of auto-dispensing system, which use roll paper towels, has resulted in a comeback for roll towels. These systems are also proving to save paper, save money and be healthier for the environment. 

Why? Often people pull folded paper towels out of a dispenser not one or two at a time, but by the handful. Additionally, in many instances, sometimes the dispenser releases several towels at a time. 

Moreover, people often do not unfold the towels before using them, which means the drying and absorbing potential of the towel is minimized, making more towels necessary. This is wasteful and requires the cutting down of more trees and the processing of more paper. 

It is estimated that by changing from folded to roll paper towels, even without using an auto-dispensing system, BSCs and facility managers can reduce paper waste by as much as 35 per cent. And, using an auto-dispensing system, which can regulate how much paper is dispensed, can reduce this waste even more. 

Not only is less paper wasted, less paper is necessary to package the material. And, because fewer paper products are required, the cost and labour to manufacture the paper is reduced, which can translate into cost savings for BSCs and their customers.

 

The Comparison Issue

As with many products, the first Green and recycled paper products introduced tended to be more costly than comparable paper products. In addition, some consumers found the unbleached, brown paper products to be unappealing, coarse and less effective. 

However, today things have changed. For the most part, Green or recycled paper towels and toilet tissues are comparable in cost to traditional paper products and may actually cost less. The “brown” stigma is no longer a problem because paper products can be whitened without bleach using environmentally preferable ingredients as a substitute. And, most consumers find they are as soft and equally absorbent as traditional paper products. 

About the only problems facility managers encounter when switching from folded to roll towels and auto-dispensing systems is the cost of the dispenser and its installation. However, many paper companies will provide dispensers designed to work with their paper products to help “lock” users into future use of their products, limiting competition. And, they may help cover the costs for installing the new dispensers. This makes it easy for BSCs to help Green their clients’ facilities, reduce the number of trees destroyed each year and protect our environment.