The proposed revised standard is open for comment until February 23, 2009, and comments can be submitted through an online forum system.

The demand for sanitary paper products is increasing as seen by the increasing imports to the United States coupled with the increasing demands both domestically and overseas for certain products, reports Green Seal. It is estimated that the world tissue paper demand will grow 3.2 percent per year through 2010.

The per capita demand is significantly highest in North America; however growth prospects may be highest in China and other parts of Asia.

Since GS-1 and GS-9 standards were last issued in 1992 and 1993, respectively, technological and scientific advancements have been made to identify and improve the environmental life cycle and performance of these products. They include the source of virgin fiber (if used), recycled content percentages, water and energy usage during production, transportation, air and water quality emissions from production, CO2 emissions, waste, use of chlorine and other hazardous materials in various stages of production, performance and packaging.

Green Seal says, a comprehensive, user friendly standard that addresses issues and lifecycle impacts relevant to North America and other parts of the world is needed for all three paper products.

As a result Green Seal is proposing combining the standards into one comprehensive standard.

The scope of the standard has also been expanded to include other sanitary paper products and would establish environmental requirements for sanitary paper products, including paper towels, paper napkins, bathroom tissue, facial tissue, and toilet seat covers, and placemats and other table coverings. The standard covers products for institutional as well as retail markets. The products are required to be made from 100 percent recovered material, since this provides the greatest reduction in life-cycle impacts.

The formerly separate standards are being combined because these products have similar characteristics, and are often manufactured at the same facility.

Performance Requirements

The revised standard will require specific product testing for the following product characteristics: basis weight, wet and dry tensile strength, stretch, water absorbency and brightness. These tests are standard in the industry, and are used to ensure production of a consistent and well-made product.

Specific American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) tests in the major product characteristics will be required, when available. The results will need to fall within an acceptable performance range.

Equivalent Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) and/or International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard testing protocol will also be accepted.

Alternative performance requirements may be allowed for sanitary paper products not specified in the standard that may be developed in the future and may follow different testing criteria than those listed in the standard.

Manufacturers will be required to contain minimum material specifications with regard to the number of sheets per roll/box/package or an equivalent square footage. The intent of this specification is to ensure that efficient packaging is being considered, and that the maximum reasonable amount of material is packaged on a roll or in a box.

In addition, the manufacturer will need to demonstrate that the product is packaged and shipped using the most efficient approach. Alternate sizes for the material specifications may be accepted, if their use will improve the overall packaging and transportation efficiency.

Recovered Material Content

A study conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund indicated that manufacturing processes based on recovered fiber require fewer inputs and generate lower outputs than virgin fiber manufacturing processes, including water and energy use as well as air emissions and wastewater.

Further, according to the Environmental Paper Network, it takes between 2.2 and 4.4 tons of raw wood fiber to produce one ton of virgin pulp, and it takes 1.4 tons of recovered material to produce one ton of recycled pulp, which is a wood fiber (tree) savings of up to 310 percent.

This enables preservation of clean water and air, as well as biological diversity and climate regulation.

Further, solid waste generated from pulp and paper manufacturing is dwarfed by the life cycle contribution of paper to solid waste, when paper is disposed of in landfills and incinerators instead of being recycled.

Increased utilization of recovered material can reduce inputs to municipal waste streams, thus reducing overall space and costs associated with its management. The maximum feasible utilization rate of recovered paper in sanitary paper products is 100 percent.

Other paper grades (e.g., printing and writing, container board) can only utilize lesser amounts. The amount that can be utilized depends on factors in the processing and converting of the product, as well as the requirement of the product to meet certain technical specifications. Therefore, sanitary paper products are the foundation in the hierarchy of accepting recovered material. As a result, the recovered material content requirement in the standard is 100 percent.

It has been acknowledged that integrated mills or integrated facilities may not be able to maintain precisely 100 percent recovered material content due to the process of reclaiming mixed fiber within these mills through whitewater and wastewater recovery. Minor amounts of reclaimed mixed fibers would not prohibit the mill from meeting the intent of the standard. Thus, the manufacturer can meet the requirement by demonstrating, through mass balance calculations, that the amount of virgin fiber within the reclaimed mixed fiber is less than 0.5 percent of the total incoming recovered material furnish (stock).

Post-Consumer Material

The required post-consumer contents have increased to be consistent with the maximum amount required in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2007 Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines. This requirement is consistent with other national programs such as The New Zealand Ecolabelling Trust and The Australian Ecolabel Program, both of which require levels of post-consumer material that are consistent or higher than the EPA maximums.

An alternative to meeting these levels may be permitted when a reduction in total fiber use and disposal (i.e., through source reduction) is demonstrated.

Source reduction means altering the design, manufacture, or use of sanitary paper products to reduce the amount that gets disposed of in a landfill. As an example, if a manufacturer can show that they have altered the design of their product such that 15 percent less material is used and ultimately disposed of in landfill, then the amount of post-consumer content required in the product could be reduced by an equivalent percentage (e.g., the paper towel post-consumer content requirement could decrease from 60 percent to 45 percent).

Recovered Material Processing

The standard requires that all products be Processed Chlorine Free. The intent of this is to reduce the negative impacts associated with chlorine use in the sanitary paper making process. Use of chlorine and/or chlorine containing compounds in paper making can result in the formation of dioxins, furans, and other chlorinated organics that typically pass through a wastewater treatment plant, and end up accumulating in the environment in the fat tissue of animals and humans.

These compounds have been linked to adverse health effects, including cancer and toxicity to reproductive, immunologic and endocrine systems.

The previous standard prohibited the use of chlorine and its derivatives for the bleaching and deinking stages of the paper making process, without clearly addressing other stages of the process (e.g., during wet strength broke processing). Therefore the standard is more specific in terms of the prohibition of chlorine and its derivatives throughout all of the possible stages of the manufacturing process, including, but not limited to: pulping, screening, deinking, washing and bleaching.

It is acknowledged that the use of chlorine and/or chlorine derivatives and biocides may be necessary in the manufacturing process as a disinfectant for the purposes of treating incoming and recycled water sources and abatement of biological growth, all of which may have an adverse effect on the final product.

Residuals from these disinfectants and their disinfection by-products are acceptable if the concentrations in wastewater are below the applicable maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) and maximum residual disinfectant levels (MRDLs) in the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations found in 40 CFR, Part 141.

Green Seal has historically moved to prohibit carcinogens, mutagens, and reproductive toxins in the manufacturing of environmentally preferable products. This standard will also prohibit these compounds. In addition, consistent with GS-1 (1992) this standard does not allow the product or packaging to contain any added colorant components (i.e., pigments, inks, dyes), or fragrances.

This revision has also included the restriction of other potentially harmful compounds. Heavy metals, both in elemental form or as compounds (e.g., hexavalent chromium), including lead, chromium, and selenium are restricted as they have been demonstrated to produce neurotoxic effects in humans. Other heavy metals not listed are covered by the carcinogen prohibition.

Optical brighteners and surfactants are restricted due to issues with biodegradation and ecotoxicity. Chemicals that contribute to urban smog and global warming have also been restricted, including ozone-depleting compounds and hazardous air pollutants.

These restrictions are also consistent with other Green Seal standards (GS-37, GS-40, GS-8, GS-11).

To post comments on the on-line forum, one must register to use the forum. All users will be able to view all comments and the name of the commenter. Forum registration is open to all interested parties until the deadline. ❑