Global non-profit Green Seal® has announced it is opening public comment on a leadership standard for sanitary paper products that contain no virgin tree fibre and meet meaningful manufacturing and packaging sustainability requirements.
Long a leader in certifying 100 per cent recycled fibre products, the ecolabel’s proposed standard now also includes a certification pathway for tree-free products, expanding opportunities for brands that produce responsibly sourced alternative-fibre sanitary paper to verify their sustainability leadership.
Green Seal developed its new standard in collaboration with the leading towel and tissue brands, purchasers and policy advocates in its working group to promote industry alignment on meaningful claims and criteria for this product category.
“Buyers trust Green Seal-certified sanitary paper products because they significantly reduce carbon emissions, protect ancient and endangered forests, and preserve water resources,” said Doug Gatlin, CEO of Green Seal. “Our new standard maintains this leadership bar while growing market impact by inviting a broader group of manufacturers to verify their sustainability achievement.”
By meeting stringent fibre 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 annually – the equivalent of taking 2.8 million cars off the road.
Sanitary paper products certified to Green Seal’s standard meet the environmentally preferable purchasing requirements of various states, local governments, K-12 schools, colleges, and the federal government. Additionally, products certified to the standard qualify for points in the LEED® v4.1 green building standard and for the Amazon Climate Pledge Friendly program.
Public comment on Green Seal’s proposed criteria is open through April 28th, 2025. Learn more about Green Seal’s sanitary paper product standard and submit comments here. Learn more about Green Seal’s 2024 Impact Report here.
