Recycled pulp toilet paper is cheap and eco-friendly, yet Taiwan, China's usage rate is only 5%

Recently, news spread that toilet paper will rise in price in March, triggering panic buying among the public, with toilet paper in major stores swept clean. This round of price increases is mainly due to higher costs for virgin pulp, packaging materials, and shipping. However, recycled toilet paper, because it uses recycled paper, has seen relatively smaller price increases, while also being more eco-friendly and kinder to the Earth.

Only 5% of toilet paper used in Taiwan, China is made from recycled paper

The Industrial Development Bureau stated that even if imported pulp does not come from tropical rainforests, its imported carbon footprint is still relatively high. Foreign countries have long begun using large amounts of recycled paper. In Japan, 65% of toilet paper uses recycled paper, and in Europe and America it is over 50%, but currently in Taiwan, China it is only 5%.

"Toilet paper in Taiwan, China is like water and electricity, too cheap. Whether it's free with gas purchases or tissue paper used as a roadside advertising tool, toilet paper is just a cheap, free thing. People don't see that every sheet of toilet paper is a tree's life. The value of a tree's life is not seen." Huang Shude, former chairwoman of the Homemakers United Foundation Cooperative and current chairwoman of the Green Advocates Green Electricity Cooperative, pointed out directly that from the forest to the consumer's hands, people feel no connection to the link in between for a sheet of toilet paper, "and toilet paper is a major daily necessity, so the government doesn't dare impose a heavy environmental tax. But toilet paper is 100% virgin pulp, and can only be used once, cannot be recycled again. This should all be taxed."

Recycled toilet paper uses office paper sterilized at high temperatures, safety is beyond doubt

Huang Shude stated that recycled toilet paper mainly comes from office paper, printing industry trimmings, recycled cardboard boxes, paper boxes, etc. "Household recycling accounts for a relatively small proportion, and if it is household paper, such as used in the toilet, it is absolutely thrown directly into the trash, and will not be recycled as recycled toilet paper."

Although recycled toilet paper is more eco-friendly and kinder to the Earth, many people have hygiene and safety concerns about recycled toilet paper. Huang Shude stated that people have a misconception, thinking that virgin pulp is pure white and looks more premium and clean. But ordinary toilet paper can be so white because bleach is added, causing water pollution from discharge. "Everyone doesn't want to look at the cost of pure white cleanliness," and toilet paper is made by sterilizing pulp with high-temperature steam of several hundred degrees or more. "But when people hear 'recycled' they think dirty. The environment should encourage everyone not to buy new things anymore. Now toilet paper is so cheap that some people use it as a rag."

Regarding the public's belief that recycled toilet paper is not as white and concern that it is not sterilized, Chen, marketing planning manager of the recycled toilet paper brand Dandelion, further explained, "This part can be rest assured, because the manufacturing process uses 400-degree high-temperature sterilization, there will be no hygiene issues." And regarding whiteness, because recycled toilet paper uses recycled office paper, there will be some ink. Although it undergoes de-inking treatment, the color still won't be as white, but this does not affect usage.

Recycled pulp is cheaper than virgin pulp, with a price difference of 20%

Manager Chen further pointed out that comparing their own brand's regular toilet paper Chunfeng with the recycled toilet paper Dandelion, recycled toilet paper is cheaper, with a difference of up to 20%, "because it mainly uses recycled office paper, and this kind of recycled pulp is cheaper than virgin pulp." And this time the cost of virgin pulp rose by more than 30%, while recycled pulp, although seeing a slight increase, has not risen as much.

The Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that domestic pulp sources are almost entirely imported from abroad, so selling prices are affected by fluctuations in international pulp prices. But toilet paper, including toilet tissue, is a single-use product that is thrown away after use. Using imported pulp is somewhat wasteful; making it from locally available materials is the most eco-friendly.

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