Tesco is rolling out toilet roll and kitchen towels made from recycled cardboard and recycled pulp in selected stores around the UK.
Tesco and its supplier Wepa have invested in innovative technology that makes it possible to turn thousands of tonnes of 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 then mixed with water to create a pulp and cleaned to create suitable fibres for use in paper production.
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The pulp production process uses less water, chemicals and energy compared to using traditional tree fibre as the raw material. The paper is unbleached, giving the products their unusual beige colour.
Tesco household category director Philip Banks commented: “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.”
