Today, Green Seal announced a new standard that redefines sustainability leadership for sanitary paper products for both the household and commercial markets. With this standard, consumers can be sure that certified toilet paper, paper towels, and other towel and tissue products not only completely avoid virgin tree fiber but also meet meaningful manufacturing and packaging sustainability requirements that protect people and the planet.
Here, I’ll break down what’s in this new standard and why it matters for brands and buyers.
Why did Green Seal develop a new standard for sanitary paper?
Green Seal has long been a top certifier of eco-friendly 100% recycled towel and tissue products. In fact, Green Seal-certified products from leading brands saved 8.5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions last year — the emissions equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road.
Now, for the first time, we have added a certification pathway for tree-free alternatives. This means that brands that produce responsibly sourced bamboo sanitary paper can verify their sustainability achievement.
We also strengthened our criteria for chemical ingredients, manufacturing processes, and packaging materials to reflect what true leadership looks like for towel and tissue products today.
How did Green Seal develop this standard?
We developed the standard with extensive research into the environmental and human health impacts of producing and using towel and tissue products. We also sought expertise from the technical and subject matter experts on our Sanitary Paper Products Working Group, which comprises representatives from retailers, industry associations, environmental advocates, manufacturers, and buyers.
As always, we released our draft standard for public review and comment before finalizing it.
What’s in the sanitary paper standard?
The standard defines sustainability leadership in this product category as meeting the following criteria:
- Responsible Sourcing: Products are made from 100% recycled content or responsibly sourced alternative fibers (such as agricultural residue or bamboo) that achieve substantial savings in carbon emissions and protect ancient and endangered forests.
- Safer Chemicals: Products use chlorine-free bleaching (for recycled products) or elemental chlorine-free bleaching (for alternative fiber products) and are made without fragrances, PFAS, and other harmful chemicals.
- Low-Impact Manufacturing: Products are manufactured with reduced water and energy use at a facility with a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The manufacturer provides a safe and hygienic workplace, fair wages and working conditions, and ensures freedom from discrimination and harassment.
- Sustainable Packaging: Products use recyclable or minimized packaging.
What makes Green Seal’s standard different from others?
Two things make our certification standard different from others. First, our standard ensures that Green Seal-certified products never contain any virgin tree fiber. They either use 100% recycled fiber, or they use alternative fiber like bamboo. This means they save more carbon and provide greater protection to ancient and endangered forests than products that earn certifications that allow the use of virgin tree fiber.
Second, our certification standard moves beyond fiber content to require sustainability leadership across the product lifecycle.
This is the first comprehensive sustainability standard for bamboo tissue products. Like fiber-only certification standards, it requires bamboo fibers to be sourced from responsibly managed forests. But it also requires:
- fiber analysis testing to ensure supply chain integrity;
- low-impact manufacturing practices;
- safer chemical ingredients, and
- responsible packaging.
Meeting this standard is a differentiator for brands that are truly committed to sustainability leadership.
Why is sustainability important in this product category?
Americans consume an average total of 19.2 billion pounds a year of sanitary paper products, and these single-use products leave a hefty environmental footprint.
Sanitary paper production contributes heavily to deforestation, denuding 28 million acres of the ecologically valuable Boreal forest in a 20-year period – an area roughly the size of Ohio.
Also, 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 three times as many CO2 emissions as products made from other types of pulp.
Making paper from virgin tree fiber also guzzles massive amounts of water, demanding more than 24 billion gallons a day.
Choosing Green Seal-certified sanitary paper products is a simple way to reduce your carbon footprint and protect precious natural resources.
Where can people learn more about the standard?
As a mission-driven, nonprofit organization, we always make our standards publicly available. You can find the full standard here, and you can find certified products in our certified product directory.