According to a Greenpeace press release, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the maker of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle brands, has been convinced to institute stronger fiber sourcing standards that will increase conservation of forests globally and will make the company a leader for sustainably produced tissue products.
Kimberly-Clark plans to obtain 100 percent of its wood fiber for tissue products from environmentally responsible sources. The revised standards will enhance the protection of Endangered Forests and increase the use of both Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified fiber and recycled fiber. By the end of 2011, Kimberly-Clark will ensure that 40 percent of its North American tissue fiber is either recycled or FSC certified, an increase of more than 70 percent over 2007 levels.
Also by the end of 2011, Kimberly-Clark will eliminate the purchase of any fiber from the Canadian Boreal Forest that is not FSC certified. This forest is North America’s largest old growth forest, providing habitat for threatened wildlife such as woodland caribou and a sanctuary for more than one billion migratory birds.