A lot of companies are using recycled fibers to make their product. The problem is, these statements are misleading. When most people hear “recycled” they automatically assume “good.” CleaningProductsWorld.com got the real story from a Proctor & Gamble Product Expert (Proctor and Gamble are the makers of Charmin Toilet Paper). 

“To make recycled pulp (vs virgin pulp) paper must be collected, washed,de-inked and dried.  The problem is that those numbers you see quoted assume that 1 pound of virgin pulp = 1 pound of recycled pulp and that  they can be used interchangeably in a product like tissue (so they only look at the difference in this step of the lifecycle).  But the realityis that recycling paper fibers damages and breaks them so the recycled pulp does not behave the same as the virgin pulp.  The performance is greatly reduced (e.g. softness, absorbency, strength) so you either have to use more fiber in product or consumer has to use more product.   Also the damaged recycled fibers dry less efficiently on a tissue machine (like damaged hair) so it takes more energy to make tissue from recycled fiber vs virgin fiber. ”

“When you do a more thorough comparison taking into account manufacturing impacts and performance/use differences there is little to no benefit to use of recycled fiber in tissue, because you end up having to use more fiber to make up for the deficiencies caused by the recycled fiber. This is not the case for all paper products.  Some paper products (like a shoe box) do not have to be de-inked, and do not need to be absorbent and strongwhen wet so the loss in performance may not matter.  Bottomline, it’s impossible to quote a generic number about how much water/energy/treesusing recycled fiber saves because it really depends what type of product you are using it in. ”

And there we have it! For any additional questions, comment below or email cs@CleaningProductsWorld.com