- Scope
This standard establishes environmental requirements for:
- Bathroom Tissue.
Bathroom Tissue made from recovered paper.
- Facial Tissue.
Facial Tissue made from recovered paper.
- Definitions
This section provides definitions for terms used in this Standard.
2.1 Recovered paper material: paper waste generated after the completion of a paper making process, such as post-consumer materials, envelope cuttings, bindery trimmings, printing waste, cuttings and other converting waste, butt rolls and mill wrappers, obsolete inventories, and rejected unused stock. Recovered material, however, shall not include fibrous waste generated during the manufacturing process, such as fibers recovered from wastewater or trimmings of paper machine rolls (virgin mill broke), regardless of whether such materials are used by the same or another company and shall also not include fibrous by-products of harvesting, extractive or woodcutting processes or forest residues such as bark.
2.2 Post-consumer material: those finished products, packages or materials generated by a business or consumer that have served their intended end uses, and that have been recovered from or otherwise diverted from the waste stream for the purpose of recycling.
- Product Specific Performance Requirements
3.1 Product must be made in accordance with reasonable industry practice with respect to holes, tears, wrinkles, cleanliness, foreign materials or dirt. It must have no disagreeable odor, either wet or dry, in accordance with reasonable industry practice. Edges of the product must be cleanly cut and not ragged. Product must dispense properly from the box or fixture.
3.2 Each roll of bathroom tissue must contain at least 40 square feet of product (equivalent to approximately 300 x 4.5 x 4.4 inch sheets). Each box of facial tissue must contain at least 70 square feet of product (equivalent to approximately 175 x 8.0 x 8.0 inch sheets).
- Product Specific Environmental Requirements
4.1 Bathroom Tissue: the fiber in bathroom tissue shall contain 100% recovered materials, including 20% post-consumer materials.
4.2 Facial Tissue: the fiber in facial tissue shall contain 100% recovered materials, including 10% post-consumer materials.
4.3 Post-consumer Content: the post-consumer content of a product shall be determined by measuring the average product fiber utilization over a period of no longer than three months.
4.4 De-inking of Recovered Paper: recovered paper shall not be de-inked using a solvent containing chlorine, or any chemicals listed by the EPA under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right To Know Act.
4.5 Bleaching: Chlorine and its derivatives shall not be used.
4.6 Additional Ingredients: the product (not including packaging) shall not contain any added pigments, inks, dyes, or fragrances.
- Packaging Requirements
5.1 The core of a roll of bathroom tissue or the box used to package facial tissue must be made from 100% recovered fiber.
5.2 A consumer package of bathroom tissue must contain at least 4 rolls unless the outer wrapper has been manufactured from 100% recycled materials.
5.3 Packaging shall not contain inks, dyes, pigments, stabilizers, or any other additives to which any lead, cadmium, or hexavalent chromium has been intentionally introduced.
5.4 The sum of the concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium present in any package or packaging components shall not exceed 100 parts per million by weight.
- Labeling Requirements
6.1 The Green Seal Certification Mark may appear on the packaging and the product itself.
6.2 The Green Seal Mark shall not be used in conjunction with any modifying terms, phrases, or graphic images that might mislead consumers as to the extent or nature of the certification.
6.3 Wherever it appears, the Certification Mark must include the phrase "Certified Tissue" and a control number assigned to that product by Green Seal.
6.4 If the product is certified to have been made without bleach, the package or product may bear the additional endorsement: "Unbleached" or an equivalent description approved in writing by Green Seal.
6.5 If the product is certified to have been bleached without chlorine or any of its derivatives, the product or package may bear the additional endorsement: "No Chlorine Bleach" or an equivalent description approved in writing by Green Seal.
6.6 Whenever the Certification Mark appears on a package or product, the product or package must contain a description of the basis for certification. The description shall be in a location, style, and typeface that are easily readable by the consumer. Unless otherwise approved in writing by Green Seal, the description shall read as follows:
"This product contains 100% recovered paper fiber and XX% post-consumer materials, and meets Green Seal's environmental standard for bleaching, deinking and packaging. It contains no added inks, dyes, or fragrances." [where XX is the certified level of post-consumer materials]