The Issue with Tissue
Shining a spotlight on the forest-destructive practices behind major U.S. tissue brands and helping consumers embrace sustainable alternatives.
In 2019, NRDC published The Issue with Tissue, a report that spotlighted the link between major U.S. tissue product manufacturers and the destruction of one of the most ecologically important forests in the world, the boreal forest of Canada. It also included a scorecard for consumers, ranking major toilet paper, paper towel, and facial tissue brands on their sustainability for forests and the climate.
In 2020, NRDC published The Issue with Tissue Second Edition, which noted changes in the industry landscape and updated the scorecard. The third- and fourth-edition scorecards were published in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with grades for more products than ever before and an updated methodology that reflects the growing urgency with which scientists are calling for the protection of forests with high ecological integrity. NRDC’s The Issue with Tissue Fifth Edition report and scorecard, released in 2023, highlighted the rapid rise of sustainable tissue brands that are embracing solutions to halt the “tree-to-toilet pipeline” and answer consumers’ calls for more eco-friendly options.
NRDC released The Issue with Tissue Sixth Edition scorecard in 2024, which, for the first time, reveals movement among the industry’s biggest players toward greater sustainability. Still, Procter & Gamble (P&G) remains stuck in the past, rejecting demands from consumers and shareholders alike to end its almost exclusive use of forest fiber for Charmin and its other flagship tissue brands. The company’s years of inaction continue to fuel widespread impacts on the Canadian boreal forest and its threatened species, its vast stores of carbon, and the communities that depend on it. P&G remains the only one of the three largest U.S. toilet paper producers to earn F grades for its tissue brands across all six editions of NRDC’s scorecard.
Our planet has no time for the largest companies in the world to take half measures or deflect blame. As major consumers of wood pulp from Canada, U.S. tissue companies must adopt new practices that align with the preservation of this vital forest and foster a safe, sustainable future. As consumer and investor expectations change in response to the growing urgency of the climate crisis, embracing transformative innovation remains not only a vital step toward creating a more forest-friendly and climate-safe economy—it is essential for companies looking to stay competitive in an increasingly sustainability-conscious marketplace.
Previous Editions
Tell Procter & Gamble to stop flushing our forests!
Industrial clearcutting for forest products like P&G’s Charmin toilet paper is destroying more than one million acres of the boreal forest each year. Tell P&G President & CEO Jon Moeller enough is enough.