Press release - October 22, 2007
Kleenex brand tissue products and its manufacturer Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) scored a failing grade of “E” on a tissue product scorecard released in the United Kingdom last week. Kimberly-Clark was cited for failing to use recycled fibre in Kleenex tissue products. Rather, the company prefers to buy virgin fibre from clearcut areas in Canada’s Boreal Forest.
This forest has been clearcut to produce Kimberly-Clark toilet and tissue paper products even though recycled alternatives exist.
"This company continues to flush the Boreal Forest down the
toilet and people everywhere are waking up to this destruction,"
said Richard Brooks, forest campaign coordinator with Greenpeace.
"Kimberly-Clark is responsible for wiping out the habitat of
threatened woodland caribou and further degrading the last pristine
and intact areas of Canada's Boreal Forest."
The largest tissue product manufacturer in the world,
Kimberly-Clark consumes more than 3.2 million tonnes of virgin
fibre each year to make toilet paper, facial tissue and paper
towels. Though Kimberly-Clark has promised to begin to buy fibre
from responsibly managed forests for its UK products, the company
continues to manufacture disposable products for the North American
marketplace from virgin sources of fibre with no recycled
content.
"A company of this size and reach must step up and show
leadership on the important issue of protecting forests and saving
the climate," added Brooks. "With forests a major focus of upcoming
international meetings on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, here's
a chance for Kimberly-Clark to announce they will fight global
warming by replacing some of their virgin tree fibre with recycled
paper."
Greenpeace says post-consumer recycled paper is the most
environmentally friendly option for disposable products as it uses
less energy, water and trees than virgin fibre.
Forests are a major storehouse of greenhouse gases. Logging
releases these gases into the atmosphere, contributing to climate
change. Canada's Boreal Forest alone stores more than 47.5 billion
tonnes of carbon in its soils and trees.
Kimberly-Clark placed second to last on the scorecard from
Greenpeace UK, ranking slightly ahead of Procter and Gamble who did
not reply to Greenpeace enquiries. The report card can be
downloaded from www.greenpeace.org.uk/tissueleaguetable.
For more information, please
visit www.kleercut.net or
contact:
Richard Brooks, Forest Campaign Coordinator, 416-573-7209
Jane Story, Communications Officer, 416-930-9055