Plastic-Free Paper Towels NZ | Reduce Packaging Waste
Plastic-Free Paper Towels: How to Reduce Washroom Packaging Waste
When businesses think about making their washrooms more sustainable, attention usually turns to the paper itself.
Is it recycled? Is it compostable? Is it made from an alternative fibre?
Those are worthwhile questions, but there's another part of the product that's easy to overlook:
The packaging it arrives in.
Commercial workplaces can go through significant quantities of paper towels and toilet paper every year. If every carton introduces additional plastic wrapping into the business, the packaging itself becomes another waste stream.
Choosing plastic-free paper towels can help businesses reduce unnecessary plastic packaging before the product even reaches the washroom.
Why Does Paper Towel Packaging Matter?
One carton of paper towels may not appear to contain much packaging.
But commercial paper products aren't purchased once.
They're replenished continually.
An office building, school, manufacturing facility, gym or hospitality business may use carton after carton of paper towels throughout the year.
This means relatively small amounts of packaging can accumulate over time.
When reviewing commercial paper towels, it therefore makes sense to ask two separate questions:
What is the paper towel made from?
and
What is it packaged in?
What Are Plastic-Free Paper Towels?
When we talk about plastic-free paper towels in this context, we're talking about paper towels supplied without unnecessary plastic packaging.
Hygiene Direct's HD Best Compostable Slimfold Paper Towels are supplied with plastic-free packaging, right down to the paper tape used to seal the outer carton.
This means businesses aren't introducing plastic wrapping with every carton of these towels they purchase.
It's a relatively simple change, but for workplaces using large quantities of paper products, those changes can add up.
Why Reduce Plastic Packaging?
One of the simplest ways to reduce packaging waste is to avoid bringing unnecessary packaging into the workplace in the first place.
This is different from asking:
“Can we recycle this packaging?”
Instead, the question becomes:
“Did we need this packaging in the first place?”
Where a commercial paper product can be protected and transported effectively without plastic packaging, removing that plastic can eliminate a waste stream before it is created.
This is the thinking behind Hygiene Direct's move towards Plastic Packaging Free paper products.
Look Beyond the Environmental Claims on the Paper
It's possible to focus so heavily on the environmental credentials of a paper product that the packaging gets overlooked.
Imagine two cartons of paper towels.
Both may contain recycled paper.
But one might also contain individual plastic-wrapped packs, plastic outer wrapping or other plastic packaging.
The paper itself is only part of the product's overall material footprint.
A more complete comparison considers:
- Paper fibre
- Packaging materials
- Amount of packaging
- Product performance
- Number of towels used
- Dispenser efficiency
- Transportation
- What happens after use
Looking at the complete system can give businesses a better basis for making purchasing decisions.
Combine Recycled Paper With Plastic-Free Packaging
Hygiene Direct's HD Best Compostable Slimfold Paper Towels combine several features within one commercial hand towel.
They're made from recycled kraft paper, they're designed as a compostable paper towel, and they're supplied in plastic-free packaging.
This allows businesses to address several different areas at the same time:
Recycled fibre – using recovered paper material rather than relying entirely on virgin fibre.
Packaging – avoiding unnecessary plastic packaging.
End of life – providing the potential for composting where an appropriate composting system accepts the used towels.
These are separate characteristics, and it's important not to treat them as interchangeable.
For more information about paper fibre, see Recycled vs Virgin Paper Towels: Which Is Better for Your Workplace?
Compostable Doesn't Automatically Mean Composted
The same whole-system thinking applies to compostability.
Buying a compostable towel doesn't automatically mean that towel will be composted.
If the used towel is placed into general rubbish, it will normally follow that waste stream.
Where a business wants to compost used hand-drying towels, it should check whether its composting or waste provider accepts them and establish an appropriate collection system.
This distinction is important because it avoids treating the word compostable as an environmental outcome in itself.
For more information, see Can Used Paper Towels Be Composted?
Reduce Consumption as Well as Packaging
Changing packaging is useful, but businesses shouldn't overlook the amount of paper being consumed.
If users routinely take more paper towels than they need, unnecessary waste is still being created.
A good commercial paper towel system should consider both:
the towel + the dispenser.
A suitable dispenser can help present towels in a controlled way and reduce the likelihood of users pulling out unnecessarily large handfuls.
Even reducing average consumption by a small amount can make a difference in a high-use commercial washroom.
Fewer towels consumed can mean:
- Fewer cartons purchased
- Less packaging
- Less storage required
- Less waste
- Fewer dispenser refills
- Lower overall paper consumption
Consider Your Entire Washroom Paper Order
Paper towels aren't the only consumable entering a commercial washroom.
There's also:
- Toilet paper
- Hand towels
- Soap
- Bin liners
- Cleaning products
- Sanitary products
- Other washroom consumables
When reviewing packaging waste, look beyond one SKU.
Ask suppliers what packaging is used across the range and whether lower-plastic or plastic-free alternatives are available.
Hygiene Direct has been progressively developing and promoting paper options that help businesses reduce unnecessary plastic packaging.
What About Bamboo Paper?
Businesses looking beyond conventional paper products can also consider alternative fibre options.
Hygiene Direct's Bamboo Paper range uses a blend of 60% bamboo and 40% wood fibre and includes commercial toilet paper and paper towel products.
This provides another option for organisations reviewing the fibre and packaging associated with their workplace paper products.
The best solution will depend on the priorities of the individual workplace rather than one paper type automatically being right for everyone.
Don't Forget the Dispensers
Sustainability can extend beyond consumables to the equipment used to dispense them.
Hygiene Direct supplies Recycled Plastic Washroom Dispensers manufactured from post-consumer recycled plastic.
Combining carefully selected paper products with an efficient dispenser system can help businesses address both materials and consumption.
Hygiene Direct's Free Dispenser Programme can also help qualifying businesses move to an appropriate commercial dispensing system without having to purchase the dispensers upfront.
How Can Businesses Reduce Washroom Packaging Waste?
A useful starting point is to review what currently arrives at your workplace.
Look inside the cartons and ask:
- Is there unnecessary plastic wrapping?
- Are individual packs wrapped in plastic?
- Could a plastic-free alternative perform the same job?
- Are we buying more paper than necessary because of excessive consumption?
- Are our dispensers controlling usage effectively?
- Could we consolidate orders?
- What happens to the packaging after delivery?
- What happens to the paper after use?
This turns sustainability from a product claim into a practical purchasing and waste-management exercise.
Small Changes Repeated Thousands of Times
Commercial washrooms are a good example of why seemingly small purchasing decisions matter.
One paper towel doesn't make much difference.
One piece of plastic packaging doesn't seem significant either.
But commercial consumables are purchased and used again and again.
A change that removes unnecessary packaging from every carton or reduces the number of towels used every day is repeated throughout the year.
That's where relatively straightforward changes can become worthwhile.
HD Best Compostable Slimfold Paper Towels
For businesses looking to reduce plastic packaging associated with their commercial paper towels, Hygiene Direct supplies HD Best Compostable Slimfold Paper Towels.
Features include:
- Made from recycled kraft paper
- Compostable
- Plastic-free packaging
- Paper tape used on the outer carton
- 1-ply construction
- Slimfold format
- 200 sheets per pack
- 20 packs per carton
- 4,000 sheets per carton
- Suitable for commercial and workplace washrooms
Shop HD Best Compostable Slimfold Paper Towels
If you'd like to reduce paper consumption, plastic packaging or waste across your commercial washrooms, contact Hygiene Direct and we can help you review the complete washroom system.
Related Articles
- What Are Compostable Paper Towels? A Guide for NZ Businesses
- Recycled vs Virgin Paper Towels: Which Is Better for Your Workplace?
- Can Used Paper Towels Be Composted?
- How to Make Your Commercial Washroom More Sustainable