MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

Increasing efficiency and offering more responsible options should be part of every business and operation. The concept of reducing, reusing and recycling is an every day practice for Georgia-Pacific, one of the world's largest producers of paper products and dispensing systems. Georgia-Pacific takes its commitment to the environment seriously and has developed a solution to reduce paper towel usage by up to 30% by switching from traditional multifold towels to the one-sheet-at-a-time enMotion® dispenser.

 

By simply waving your hand, enMotion controls waste by delivering a single, highly absorbent sheet to quickly and efficiently dry wet hands. This touchless feature is also a great way to improve hygiene practices and to help prevent the risk of cross-contamination. EnMotion is also equipped with features such as an adjustable time-delay to discourage paper waste and an adjustable towel length for customized portion control.

 

Taking waste reduction a step further, enMotion can also be paired with high quality, high capacity EcoLogo^TM certified, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) compliant roll towels, which are manufactured with 100% recycled fiber. Using paper recovered from curbside collections and diverting it from the solid waste stream helps create new, environmentally preferable towels, as well as other tissue products.

 

Meeting the EPA’s recommended guidelines for total and post-consumer recycled fiber content helps demonstrate Georgia-Pacific tissue products’ environmental leadership to purchasers. The EPA recycled product content standard is 40-100% recycled fiber and at least 40% post-consumer recycled fiber content for commercial/industrial paper towels.

 

Certification by independent organizations like the EcoLogo Program is another important building block in Georgia-Pacific Professional’s Green By Design^TM program. In 2009, Georgia-Pacific Professional certified a broad selection of the company’s towel, tissue and napkin products under EcoLogo, which helps to reduce human health impacts, improve use of resources, diminish aquatic toxicity and reduce waste generation.

 

“EcoLogo is one of the most respected environmental standards in the industry, representing a holistic approach to measurement of environmental impact in the processes for paper manufacturing,” says Dan Silk, Vice President – Sustainability for Georgia-Pacific Professional. ”It is an excellent fit with our dedication to processes and products that are technologically and environmentally sound.”

 

The facilities that manufacture Georgia-Pacific Professional’s certified products underwent a rigorous independent audit as part of the Program’s application process. Parts of the audit included natural resource consumption, energy consumption, effluent quality, and solid waste produced by the facility.

 

Since the 1930’s, Georgia-Pacific has been introducing systems that reduce waste and are more environmentally preferable. The company is committed to continuously improving performance and delivering innovative solutions to extend environmental benefits to the marketplace.

 

To learn more about the enMotion dispenser and what Georgia-Pacific is doing to invest in environmental and sustainability initiatives, visit: www.gppro.com/sustainability.aspx.