Tissue companies face challenges to adapt to the new rules of the European Union

As a result of European companies being unprepared to comply with this year’s new anti-deforestation laws, toilet paper shortages could be on the horizon again, according to Chris Forbes, CEO of Cheeky Panda, a British manufacturer of bamboo fiber-based toilet paper.

The new rules of the European Union were defined to ban products associated with deforestation from May and will have a “huge effect” on the toilet paper sector, said the executive.

For him, many companies are still heavily dependent on virgin cellulose as a raw material and, therefore, will find it difficult to carry out the necessary operational changes in time to comply with the new rules. “There will definitely be a squeeze on availability and we can expect the price of recycled tissue to rise as demand for alternatives increases,” said Forbes.

Also according to the leader of Cheeky Panda, most tissue paper products, such as toilet paper, facial tissues and paper towels, marketed in the United Kingdom and the European Union, are produced from virgin fibers of freshly harvested trees.

Against this practice, there are companies such as Cheeky Panda and Who Gives a Crap, which resorted to alternative sources in place of wood, such as, for example, bamboo.

ABOUT THE NEW LEGISLATION

New EU laws will require all companies that trade in commodities such as wood, coffee, soy and cocoa to meet rigorous due diligence processes in order to trade with the bloc.

Products linked to deforestation will be banned from importing and/or exporting with the European Union and the forecast is that this will also affect companies based or trading in the United Kingdom.

The forecast is that the regulation will come into effect in the second quarter of this year, with an implementation period of 18 months for larger companies and 24 months for others.

“Eliminating products rooted in deforested land from a supply chain is typically a major endeavour requiring extensive due diligence,” wrote researchers from MSCI, an American financial company, in the article ‘Cutting deforestation: Market restrictions get real’.

“Firms that have been thinking of deforestation as an issue for somebody else or someday down the road, may have to get a handle on it and in a hurry”, say the scholars.

WHAT DO COMPANIES SAY?

Acrol, maker of private label tissue for most UK grocers, said it was fully prepared for the new EU regulation and would support the introduction of similar laws in the country.

“We don’t anticipate paper supply shortages as a result of these regulations but potentially a surge in demand for FSC certified, PEFC and other sustainably sourced stocks,” commented Vikki Makinson, Head of Marketing and Communications for Acrol.

In addition to the new EU regulation, the UK government also recently issued guidelines for companies to stop buying virgin tree fiber products and switch to recycled materials.

Kimberly-Clark, the multinational owner of brands such as Cottonelle and Kleenex, stated that it is committed to halving the use of natural fibers from the forest by 2025. And that it is moving towards obtaining 90% of its tissue fiber from “environmentally preferred sources” in the same year, he added.