From box to bathroom: Tesco and WEPA’s innovative recycling partnership

UK – Supermarket chain Tesco has partnered with its supplier WEPA to recycle used cardboard boxes into toilet rolls using a new pulp production process.

UK – Leading supermarket chain Tesco has forged a partnership with its supplier, WEPA, to recycle used cardboard boxes into toilet rolls utilizing an innovative pulp production process.

This state-of-the-art technology repurposes vast quantities of corrugated cardboard into premium toilet rolls and kitchen towels.

The process entails amalgamating recycled cardboard, such as home delivery boxes and supermarket corrugated cards, with other recycled paper materials.

These components are then blended with water to form a pulp, which undergoes a thorough cleaning process to yield fibers suitable for paper production.

Notably, this manufacturing process consumes fewer resources, including water, chemicals, and energy, compared to traditional tree fiber utilization.

The resultant paper products boast an unbleached quality, rendering them a distinctive beige hue. Tesco has introduced three new products to its own-brand range, including 100% Recycled Brown Kitchen Towel and Luxury Soft 100% Recycled Brown Toilet Tissue, available in four and six long roll packs, utilizing this innovative solution.

These products, purportedly a pioneering move within the supermarket landscape, provide consumers with eco-friendly options of superior softness and absorbency.

These offerings are currently available in 100 Tesco Extra stores nationwide, with plans for further expansion.

Philip Banks, Tesco’s household category director, remarked: “The surge in home deliveries since the pandemic has resulted in a surplus of recyclable cardboard boxes right at our doorstep.

“The manufacturing process developed by our supplier, which transforms them into incredibly soft toilet roll and kitchen towel, enables us to give them a second, sustainable purpose that is distinctly different!”

Aldi trials double toilet rolls to cut plastic waste

In a separate development, budget supermarket chain Aldi is trialing double toilet rolls to mitigate its plastic waste and reduce the frequency of delivery lorries.

This trial, presently underway in the West Midlands, East Midlands, and Yorkshire counties of the UK, involves increasing the number of sheets per roll in select own-brand products, thereby reducing the packaging size.

If implemented across all Aldi stores, this initiative could potentially eliminate over 60 tonnes of plastic packaging annually.

Furthermore, the more compact packaging would facilitate the transportation of additional products per truck, thereby reducing the number of lorry journeys required.

Customers in the trial regions have access to double toilet rolls in various pack sizes, ranging from four to twelve packs.

Luke Emery, Aldi’s plastics and packaging director, expressed: “At Aldi, we are diligently working to diminish our environmental footprint wherever feasible, continuously seeking novel methods to effect positive change.

“Curtailing plastic waste and carbon emissions associated with such a widely utilized product will yield a substantial positive impact, exemplifying just one of the many exciting changes we have in store.”

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