Canadian Tissue Product Goes Above and Beyond to Achieve Sustainability
In the fight against climate change and global warming, consumers have become hyper-aware of their carbon footprint, which describes how much carbon is created by the cars they drive, the food they eat, and even everyday products as simple as tissue paper.
J.D. Irving, Limited and its affiliates produce one of the most recognized names in Canadian household tissue products, Royale, which has achieved a remarkable milestone of having its tissue products independently certified as carbon neutral.
Royale tissue products, which are manufactured by Irving Consumer Products, have been certified carbon neutral by Carbon Trust, an independent, international body that verifies claims of carbon neutrality.
Stewart Van Horn, vice-president of environment, health and safety for J.D. Irving, Limited says the certification was important for the company. He noted that environmental protection is a pillar of the company.
“It’s one of our core values on every wall here,” said Van Horn. “It’s a commitment to work at the highest standards to ensure we protect our employees, the public, and the environment through making sure we take care of the natural resources that take care of us.”
“We have a forest supply chain that starts at seedlings and goes all the way through to end-of-life for consumer products like bathroom tissue. And we have measured our impact of all those elements.”
The technical process of getting certified as carbon neutral started about three years ago. But the steps that J.D. Irving, Limited took to achieve this milestone began more than 65 years ago.
In 1957, the company began planting trees and has planted more than one billion trees since. On top of that, J.D. Irving, Limited maintains an 80-year management plan to responsibly harvest less than two per cent of its forests each year.
The company is on track to double the wood growing in its privately owned forests by 2060, compared to what was growing in 2010. A growing forest is essential in extracting carbon from the atmosphere.
To prove to the Carbon Trust that Royale tissue products were carbon neutral, J.D. Irving, Limited had to painstakingly measure how much carbon is emitted or removed at every step of the process.
“On the emission side, we had to measure everything from cradle to grave; from the raw materials acquisition, to all of the manufacturing of pulp and tissue, and then all the transportation of those goods to market,” explained Van Horn. “And, finally, the emissions from the use and end-of-life disposal of the tissue products produced by Irving Consumer Products, including Royale products.”
“This was the first year that we’ve certified, but if we hadn’t done everything since 1957 to ensure that we have a healthy and growing forest that removes more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits, we would have never been carbon neutral in the first place.”
But the trees aren’t the only things helping remove carbon from the process. J.D. Irving, Limited has been taking steps in energy efficiency, such as using fewer fossil fuels in its manufacturing process.
“We work on energy-efficiency projects throughout that lifecycle, particularly in our own manufacturing operations that make the pulp and the in the tissue to make sure that we have a smaller carbon emissions footprint from manufacturing each year,” explained Van Horn.
“And we’re proud that we were able to do this without affecting the quality of the product or the softness. It really hasn’t changed. Royale’s been out there for 60 years and it’s still the same product.”
What makes J.D. Irving, Limited’s environmental accomplishment more impressive is the fact that it achieved carbon neutrality without having to buy carbon credits. Everything was accomplished in-house.
“We don’t use outside credits,” declared Van Horn. “Many companies try to become carbon neutral by reducing their emissions as much as they could and then buy external credits from an organization that claims to have reduced GHG emissions somewhere else in the world.”
“Carbon Trust informed us that this is a first for their certification, where we have a product life cycle that removes more carbon than is emitted because of healthy forests that are a part of the product’s own supply chain.”
Royale tissue may be the first product that J.D. Irving, Limited manufactures to achieve carbon neutral status, but it won’t be the last.
“You’ll see us in the future continue to focus on remaining carbon neutral. we’ve got a goal to remain carbon neutral through 2030 in our consumer products,” said Van Horn.
This story is sponsored by J.D. Irving Limited