Kruger Products researching ways to turn bamboo into quality tissue with goal of adding renewable resource to EnviroCare line by 2023

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Canada’s biggest toilet paper manufacturer aims to make some of its tissue from bamboo as an environmentally sustainable option for consumers.

Kruger Products LP, the maker of brands such as Cashmere and Purex toilet papers, and SpongeTowels, is researching ways to turn bamboo into quality tissue with the goal of adding the renewable resource to its EnviroCare line, likely by 2023, Chief Executive Officer Dino Bianco said in an interview.

“The biggest issue with bamboo is you just can’t get the quality that North American consumers want,” Bianco said. “We will try to improve the quality of it, and we would put it under our environmental brand as a choice for consumers who want that.”

Bamboo is considered a renewable natural resource because it’s a perennial that grows quickly. It currently accounts for just 1 per cent of North American toilet paper, Bianco said.

The Mississauga, Ontario-based company will most likely buy the raw material from Asia, Bianco said.

Toilet paper and other tissues are traditionally made from wood pulp, a byproduct of lumber production. Soaring demand for lumber used in home building and renovations in North America has lifted prices to record highs, making pulp more expensive as well.

Earlier this month, Kruger announced it will join other manufacturers in raising the price of its consumer and private label products sold in Canada starting July 5.

Bloomberg.com