"Sustainability" is the key word today. Everyone is speaking about it and everyone is actively working to make his or her contribution because it is a common goal. For the multinational Georgia-Pacific, sustainability means improving social wellbeing, it means environmental protection and also economic prosperity. And everything passes through the core.
Maura Leonardi
It's called Aqua TubeTM and it is the new ecological solution launched by the multinational Georgia-Pacific. The secret of this innovative product lies in the internal tube: a biodegradable, flushable core. Present for a few years on the European market (in France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal), in May it made its entrance on the Italian market under the Tenderly brand. It is doubtless an innovative product that eliminates the problem of waste through an alternative solution to paper recycling.
Positive welcome by 89% of Italian consumers who, according to a research conducted by Ipsos commissioned by Georgia-Pacific Italia, are seriously interested in this noveltygiven its ecological and practical potential. This research was performed on a pool of 1,000 consumers and highlighted the behavior of 27% of the interviewees who do not recycle the internal tube of the toilet roll, which is just left in the bathroom, hoping that some other member of the family (usually women replace the finished roll, 59% versus 36% of the men) will see to throwing it away in a normal dustbin. A behavior which penalizes the recycling of these very common elements in Italian bathrooms, which are, however, among the less recycled paper products in the country.
Surely, if we consider that this tube can be thrown in the toilet, where it vanishes instantaneously, it is natural to ask ourselves: is it biodegradable? Won't it obstruct bathroom pipes? Well, the answer is simple: Aqua TubeTM is made using renewable and biodegradable material. Indeed, thanks to the constant research carried out by G-P in the quest for valid alternative solutions, a unique production process was enacted. Thanks to this new method, a resistant paper is obtained and used for the internal roll core, which then quickly dissolves as soon as it comes into contact with water.
The new core is produced using cellulose from certified suppliers that use the wood coming from sustainable FSC and PEFC certified forests. The new Aqua TubeTM product is a revolutionary innovation in the tissue paper products category, as confirmed by the Italian consumers who appreciate it for its practicality (46%) and respect for the environment (62%), considering that only 49% recycles toilet roll cores and 22% throws them away together with normal waste.
And in Europe? What were the reactions of consumers in France, Belgium (with the Lotus® brand) and in Spain (with the Colhogar® brand)? From a sample of over 3,000 consumers interviewed, it emerged that 82% are interested to use the Aqua TubeTM product, acknowledging its features of convenience and importance for the environment. Belgium exceeds Spain and France in terms of recycling: 87% of Belgian consumers recycle glass, plastic and paper and this is a greater percentage with respectto Spanish (56%) and French (65%) consumers.
By the way, also in the statistics collected in Spain, France and Belgium, women win with 82% (against 62% of men) in the replacement of the finished toilet roll in the bathroom. The interesting research conducted by G-P highlights curious consumption behaviors.
Tarek Hallaba, President of G-P's EMEA Consumer Business stated: "The results of our survey clearly show that Aqua TubeTM will have a significant impact on how we experience our bathroom break, since we are taking care of one of the last little annoyances that consumers have raised. Aqua TubeTM will make your bathroom break that little more convenient; all you have to do is flush the tube down the toilet, and it will immediately disintegrate.
At Georgia-Pacific, we believe that Aqua TubeTM is the new-generation ‘core' and the future for all toilet paper. With this most recent innovation, we are demonstrating that Georgia-Pacific is a leader in the toilet tissue category and truly responds to the needsof consumers".
This innovation is for Georgia-Pacific "at the ‘core' of what we do"; it is not only technological but involves every aspect of business. It is the basis for sustaining long term relations, building loyalty among its consumers. Their will is to satisfy the needs of modern consumers by offering a wide range of versatile, convenient and hygienic consumer and away-from-home products. Just a few months from its launch on the Belgian market, Aqua TubeTM has already obtained the Golden Gondola prize in the non-food products category. The jury, comprised of experts in the field of distribution, conferred the prize to this product for its revolutionary contribution in the category of tissue paper hygiene products and for its immediate commercial success following its launch. At this point, what to do with the internal tube of the finished roll? Just throw it in the toilet and see what happens!
Data Source Georgia-Pacific.