Essity transforms half a billion used hand towels into a new industrial fiber stream

The paper industry has long considered post-consumer hand towels a lost cause. High wet-strength resins, moisture, and the sheer logistical nightmare of collecting dispersed waste from thousands of commercial washrooms usually mean one destination: landfill or incineration. Yet, Essity is proving that this fragmented waste stream can be engineered into a reliable, high-volume source of recovered fiber.

Through its Tork PaperCircle service, the Swedish hygiene giant has successfully closed the loop on commercial tissue. The numbers from 2025 confirm the scale of this industrial shift: over 500 million used hand towels were collected and redirected back into Essity’s manufacturing network. In an era where virgin pulp prices remain volatile and access to high-quality recovered paper is increasingly competitive, creating a proprietary secondary fiber stream is a significant strategic advantage.

Scaling a complex reverse logistics model

What began as a localized initiative has now matured into a robust operational network spanning 15 European markets. Currently, the program is recovering more than 35 million hand towels every single month. During 2025, the service saw a 33% increase in participating customer sites, ranging from corporate campuses in France and the UK to airports in Sweden and universities in Germany.

The mechanics of Tork PaperCircle rely on strict point-of-use segregation. By partnering with facility management companies to ensure high-purity collection at the source, Essity bypasses the contamination risks that typically plague municipal recycling streams. These recovered towels are then transported directly to Essity mills, where they are pulped and converted into new tissue products, such as toilet paper. This direct-to-mill approach not only secures the fiber but also significantly reduces the carbon footprint associated with traditional waste disposal.

Pablo Fuentes, President of Professional Hygiene at Essity, frames this growth as a direct response to market realities. "At Essity, we believe innovation should solve real customer needs, lead the market and deliver meaningful sustainability outcomes," Fuentes noted. He emphasized that the continued growth of the service reflects the increasing demand for solutions that deliver measurable sustainability benefits while supporting business performance.

Beyond fiber: The hardware loop

While securing secondary fiber is the primary industrial achievement, Essity is also applying this circular logic to its dispensing hardware. The company is currently piloting the Tork DispenserCircle program, which has already given a second life to approximately 240,000 soap, toilet paper, and hand towel dispensers. This dual approach—recovering both the consumable and the delivery mechanism—signals a comprehensive shift in how professional hygiene contracts are structured and serviced across Europe.

For the wider paper and recycling sector, Essity’s milestone is a clear indicator that difficult post-consumer streams can be commercially viable if the collection architecture is built correctly. It challenges the traditional boundaries of what the industry considers "unrecyclable" and sets a new baseline for corporate waste management in 2026 and beyond.

The ability to transform half a billion discarded towels into a steady feedstock proves that the future of recovered fiber lies in targeted, closed-loop partnerships rather than relying solely on municipal sorting. Will other major tissue producers invest in the complex reverse logistics required to match this level of direct material recovery? Follow The Paper for daily news, market signals and key updates from the global paper, corrugated and packaging industry. — Sigue toda la actualidad del sector en www.thepaper.ai