Translations

Soft and eco-friendly toilet paper: it's possible with WEPA

4. Environment

Sector Industry

Year 2020

Country France

Transmitter

Context

Founded in 1948, WEPA is a German company specialized in the manufacture of toilet paper. Its ranges include high quality products manufactured on behalf of private labels (toilet paper, paper towels, handkerchiefs, napkins). To date, WEPA operates 13 manufacturing sites in Europe and employs 3,700 people, including 715 in France. For 30 years, WEPA has been producing environmentally friendly papers and social responsibility has been a constant since the company's creation.

The ecological challenge is at the heart of its concerns: to its customers as well as to consumers, it demonstrates that it is possible to change habits and to consume more responsibly while maintaining quality products.

Objectives

Reduce the environmental impact of the production cycle
Ensuring product quality and eco-responsibility
Encouraging more responsible consumer purchases
Initiating change and eco-responsibility within the sector

APPROACH

To reduce the environmental impact associated with the production process, WEPA recycles waste and manufactures products from 100% recycled fiber or hybrid products (using a minimum of 20% recycled fiber rather than pure cellulose wadding).
Once the finished products are produced, they are traceable and have certifications and/or labels (PEFC and FSC). Faced with consumers who increasingly want to limit the impact of their consumption on the environment, WEPA has decided to produce and market hybrid products containing a minimum of 20% recycled fiber.

A new type of hybrid has recently emerged: the "sandwich hybrid". It is composed of 3 "plies" (= 3 layers): the central layer of recycled fibers is sandwiched between 2 outer layers of pure cellulose wadding paper.

The reticence of the consumer as for the visual and the texture are thus taken into account and the step towards an eco-responsible gesture is facilitated.

During each meeting with its customers, WEPA sensitizes them to the use of 100% recycled or hybrid paper, knowing that paper can have up to 7 lives. To this end, it relies on studies and numerical indicators (such as the Ademe barometer) illustrating the environmental challenges, and thus emphasizes the importance of more responsible consumption. This communication also takes the form of presentations and visual aids, product comparisons (pure cellulose, hybrid, recycled) and proposals for recycled packaging and/or packaging made in France, for example.

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

20% improvement in the environmental footprint for hybrid papers (with a minimum of 30% recycled fiber)
100% of toilet paper is made from sustainable fibres
The quality of hybrid products is just as good as that of cellulose wadding products