The Truth About Kimberly-Clark's Forestry Practices .

From the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) - The Truth About Kimberly-Clark's Forestry Practices .

Reproduced here as I would like to highlight another evil company. The list of such companies is in exhaustable unfortunately. We will work through them one at a time and hope we can help to force them to change their evil ways. The planet (Gaia) cannot take the assault for much longer and this fowl attitude and terrible actions has to stop now.

I link to it to force it further up the Google search list.

The tissue paper giant's policies may be good on paper, but its practices are bad on trees.

Many NRDC activists have sent messages to Kimberly-Clark, one of the world's largest producers of tissue paper products, urging the company to help protect North America's last natural forests. In a reply that Kimberly-Clark has been sending to activists, the company claims that it is committed to sustainable forestry and to preserving ecologically significant old-growth forests. But in practice, the company continues to purchase fiber from clearcut ecologically important boreal forests in Ontario and Alberta. Even more important, Kimberly-Clark has made no commitment to increase significantly the amount of post-consumer recycled materials used to make its products.

Below is a list of Kimberly-Clark's assertions, with NRDC's responses to each one.

What Kimberly-Clark Says

Kimberly-Clark says that less than 15 percent of the fiber it uses globally comes from the Canadian boreal forest.

The Facts

Kimberly-Clark sold its North American logging operations in 2004, but based on the company's own numbers, NRDC estimates that it purchases between 20 percent and 30 percent of its fiber from logging companies operating in the boreal forest in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The company purchases roughly 20 percent of its fiber from its former mill in Terrace Bay, Ontario. We believe that in addition to that, Kimberly-Clark buys a total of 10 percent or more of its pulp from West Fraser's mill in Hinton, Alberta, and from Millar Western logging operations in Saskatchewan. Some of these boreal forest ecosystems have been evolving since the end of the last ice age -- some 10,000 years ago -- and have never been logged. As the largest tissue paper product manufacturer in the world, Kimberly-Clark has the opportunity to be a leader in its industry and influence the way other companies treat the boreal forest.

What Kimberly-Clark Says

Kimberly-Clark claims that its use of virgin and recycled fiber is in line with industry practices.

The Facts

Kimberly-Clark relies on recycled sources for just 19 percent of the pulp it uses to make toilet paper, facial tissue, napkins and paper towels in North America. Yet the tissue paper product industry uses an average of 60 percent recycled material in manufacturing. Most of Kimberly-Clark's at-home tissue brands, such as Kleenex, contain no recycled fiber at all.

In stark contrast to Kimberly-Clark's practices, Montreal-based Cascades meets 96 percent of its pulp requirements with recycled fiber and has pledged to meet the majority of the remaining 4 percent with Forest Stewardship Council-certified pulp by 2007. Vermont-based Seventh Generation sells its 100 percent recycled consumer tissue products throughout North America, as does Toronto-based Atlantic Packaging. Marcal Paper Mills' 100 percent recycled facial tissue, made from 30 percent post-consumer waste, is sold in supermarkets throughout the northeastern United States and in office supply stores nationwide.

What Kimberly-Clark Says

Kimberly-Clark claims to support third-party forest certification and to hold suppliers to high standards of sustainability.

The Facts

Currently, Kimberly-Clark buys most of its pulp from logging operations that have not been certified under the Forest Stewardship Council's management and certification system -- the only credible measure of sustainability. The Forest Stewardship Council incorporates rigorous environmental, social and economic requirements for sustainable forest management and is truly independent from the logging industry.

A sustainable forest is one that is managed according to high environmental and social standards, which protect both the ecology of the forest and the cultural and social values they provide to the local communities that depend upon them. Yet instead of supporting these principles, Kimberly-Clark continues to purchase pulp from West Fraser's Alberta operations, which log in the habitat of the threatened woodland caribou, a species at risk of extinction.

Kimberly-Clark says that it will purchase FSC-certified fiber where it is available and meets its product performance and fiber cost requirements. If Kimberly-Clark is truly committed to high standards of sustainability, though, it should commit to purchasing all of the virgin fiber it uses from FSC-certified logging operations.