{"id":9405,"date":"2025-03-26T23:53:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T23:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/?p=9405"},"modified":"2025-07-29T19:13:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T19:13:46","slug":"defining-sustainability-leadership-for-sanitary-paper-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenseal.org\/defining-sustainability-leadership-for-sanitary-paper-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Defining Sustainability Leadership for Sanitary Paper Products"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Update:<\/strong> The public comment period closed on April 28, 2025. Please see the Projects page<\/a> for more information.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanitary paper products, including toilet paper, towels, and facial tissue, are daily essentials. The U.S. consumes approximately 19.2 billion pounds of them annually \u2013 roughly 56 pounds per person. But as single-use products made from virgin tree fiber, they can carry a hefty environmental footprint.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re proposing a leadership standard for sanitary paper products that contain no virgin tree fiber and meet meaningful manufacturing and packaging sustainability requirements.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green Seal has long recognized manufacturing leaders that use 100% recycled fiber. Now, we\u2019re adding a certification pathway for tree-free products like those made from bamboo. This will expand opportunities for brands that produce responsibly sourced alternative-fiber sanitary paper to verify their sustainability leadership and give consumers more certified choices in this product category.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A High-Impact Product Category <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fiber composition of sanitary paper products has a significant impact on their overall environmental footprint.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making these products with virgin tree fiber heavily contributes to deforestation, denuding 28 million acres of the ecologically valuable Boreal forest in a 20-year period \u2013 an area roughly the size of Ohio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Converting virgin wood into pulp is an extremely energy-intensive process. Papermaking is the third-largest energy consuming manufacturing sector, after chemicals and petroleum and coal products. In fact, products made from virgin tree fiber can generate\u202fthree times as many CO2<\/sub>\u202femissions<\/a>\u202fas products made from other types of pulp.\u202fMaking paper from virgin tree fiber also guzzles massive amounts of water, demanding more than 24 billion gallons a day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reducing the Impacts of an Everyday Product <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Using recycled or alternative fiber significantly reduces the carbon and water impacts of producing sanitary paper products and eliminates their impact on deforestation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By meeting stringent fiber sourcing and manufacturing criteria, Green Seal-certified sanitary paper products save an average of 30.5 billion gallons of water and 11.7 million metric tons of CO2 emissions a year \u2013 the equivalent of taking 2.8 million cars off the road.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under our new standard, Green Seal will: <\/p>\n\n\n\n