Press release

Loodunnit?: Which? testing exposes dubious eco-friendly toilet roll claims

Claims by fashionable bamboo toilet roll brands about the composition of their products have been called into question by Which? testing, after it found some only contain tiny amounts of the eco-friendly material
8 min read
Press Team

The consumer champion carried out fibre-composition testing on five popular brands claiming to be made from “bamboo only” or “100% bamboo”, a fibre often touted as a green alternative to virgin paper.

Samples from Bumboo, Naked Sprout and Bazoo contained very low or low levels of bamboo-like grass fibres - just 2.7%, 4% and 26.1% respectively.

Instead the toilet papers were mainly composed of less eco-friendly fast-growing virgin hardwoods – mostly eucalyptus with some acacia in Bazoo and Bumboo. Acacia has been associated with damaging deforestation in places such as Indonesia.

Two other brands, Who Gives a Crap (WGAC) and The Cheeky Panda, were also tested by Which?, and were shown to contain 100% bamboo, as claimed.

Which?’s testing was done at an independent lab using an internationally-recognised industry standard test known as TAPPI T 401 that breaks down a sample of paper into its constituent fibres to quantify and identify them.

Which? tested the end product and did not assess brands’ supply chains, but the findings highlight the challenges UK firms can face with ensuring quality control when materials for their products may be sourced thousands of miles away from countries like China.

Bazoo, Bumboo and Naked Sprout promote themselves as sustainable brands. Bazoo says it is ‘100% tree free’ and Bumboo cites its ‘FSC-certified 100% bamboo from well-managed forests’. Naked Sprout talks about selling the ‘UK’s most sustainable tissue products’. This claim is largely based on its manufacturing, which is fossil-fuel free and certified B Corp status (meaning it meets certain social/environmental standards). It does not advertise its products as 100% bamboo but told Which? they are “bamboo only”. All three source their bamboo material from China. All three brands said they use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified bamboo, and when Which? asked them, two pointed to FSC auditing as verification of their confidence in their supply chain. 

Bumboo said it “had identified an issue in [its] supply chain and taken swift action so this can never happen again”. Bumboo said it was now using the “gold standard” TAPPI T 401 test to verify the fibre composition of every batch and publishing the results on its website. 

Bazoo told Which? it undergoes extensive auditing with the FSC. The company said its bamboo manufacturer is 100% FSC-certified and this is checked and audited every six months, and it is investigating this currently with the FSC body and its manufacturer in depth. 

Naked Sprout - which last month announced it would be the official toilet roll supplier for this year’s Glastonbury festival - said that the bamboo pulp it uses is verified by a strict audit trail, also used by the FSC, of its supply chain and raw materials used. It said its supply chain is deliberately small, consisting of only four suppliers and one manufacturer and, as a result, all materials used are FSC-certified and fully traceable from raw material to end product.

Naked Sprout claimed there were limitations with TAPPI T 401 and disputed the objectivity and validity of the test method. However, the test is a globally-recognised industry benchmark and Which? believes the clear results leave little room for doubt.

TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry) said it saw no contradictions in Which?’s application of the test method and that it “seems disingenuous” to suggest that a test method applied successfully to other brands tested for this article would be inadequate for Naked Sprout.

The FSC said it was concerned by the Which? test results and had alerted its supply chain integrity team. It said it would work with the businesses to ensure the findings were fully investigated and any appropriate action taken.

Which? believes that consumers should be able to be confident that the products they are buying are as sustainable as is claimed on the packaging - particularly when these are often more expensive than the alternative. 

While the brands investigated by Which? may not have deliberately misled consumers, the consumer champion believes they must take action to ensure shoppers can have confidence in their products. 

Emily Seymour, Which? Sustainability Editor, said: 

"Given so many shoppers are taking steps to be more sustainable, it’s vital they can trust claims made by brands - particularly when they are paying more for a product they believe is better for the environment.

"Businesses must take responsibility for ensuring their products contain what they say on the packaging so that shoppers who want to make sustainable choices can trust the information they are given.”

ENDS 

Notes to editors:

  • In November 2023 Which? carried out fibre-composition testing. The testing was done at an independent lab using an industry standard test known as TAPPI T 401 that breaks down a sample of paper into its constituent fibres to quantify and identify them. Toilet rolls were bought from retailers (Ocado, Waitrose or directly from the brands’ retail websites where that was the only place they were available).
  • Choosing sustainability: There’s a hierarchy when it comes to choosing a greener roll based on composition/material.

  • Recycled paper:  At the top of the pile is 100% post-consumer waste paper. Some brands also carry FSC certification – this gives a third-party verification that the paper contains at least 70% post-consumer materials. Pre-consumer waste recycled paper comes below this, but is still a greener option. 
  • Bamboo: As a general rule, bamboo’s impressively fast growth when combined with FSC certification means that it can be viewed as a more sustainable option than virgin timber. When uncertified, however, bamboo can be implicated in unsustainable uses of pesticides and fertilisers and unsustainable conversion of forests. 
  • Virgin Paper: FSC 100% wood/timber is the best in this category, but we couldn’t find any brands that carried this certification. Most brands carry FSC Mix certification instead. FSC Mix contains a mix of FSC-certified timber and controlled wood – wood that is deemed low risk. Avoid uncertified toilet roll (brands that don’t carry any FSC certification at all).

Right of replies: 

  • Bumboo said: “We have identified an issue in our supply chain and taken swift action so this can never happen again. Any affected customers have been contacted and we are increasing our fibre testing, so every batch is independently verified. This will provide complete transparency that all future products are 100% bamboo. Recycled paper and alternative fibres such as bamboo are still a better solution for the planet than paper products using virgin trees. Having spoken at length to experts at a UK laboratory known for its fibre testing expertise, it is clear that TAPPI T401 is the gold standard in fibre testing. Bumboo have now implemented this test to be carried out on every batch of products. Test results for every batch are published on our website, www.bumboo.eco.”
  • Bazoo said: "We undergo extensive auditing with FSC every 6 months, we can provide our FSC certified agent and certifier that we speak to regularly and who makes sure we comply with the 100% FSC regulations. Our bamboo manufacturer is 100% FSC certified and this is checked and audited in our supply chain every 6 months. Bazoo is audited and has documents proving our 100% FSC certification every 6 months since we started trading. It was very important to us and integral to find a bamboo supplier and manufacturer who was 100% FSC certified. We are investigating this currently with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) body and our manufacturer in depth.’
  • Naked Sprout said that the bamboo pulp it uses is verified by a strict audit trail (also used by the FSC) of its deliberately small supply chain and raw materials used. It says all materials are FSC certified and fully traceable from raw material to end product. It says there are limitations with TAPPI T 401 and disputes the objectivity and validity of the test method. Naked Sprout also said that the use of fossil fuel free manufacturing makes the biggest difference to the sustainability of its products. Naked Sprout's B-Corp certified factory is powered by 100% renewable energy and it is proud to use other (patent protected) energy saving and eco innovations.
  • FSC said: “We are concerned to discover that Which?’s fibre-testing of some FSC-labelled toilet rolls, claimed to contain only bamboo fibre, indicates that they are made using wood-fibre in addition to bamboo. Since being approached by Which?, we have contacted the brands in question to gather further information and alerted FSC’s Supply Chain Integrity Team to this case. FSC is the world’s most trusted sustainable forest management solution and from forest to store, we are committed to supporting credible supply chains. We take our integrity seriously and are committed to working with the organizations involved to ensure this is fully investigated and any appropriate action taken to ensure FSC labels accurately reflect the composition of FSC-certified products.”
  • TAPPI said: “TAPPI is North America's premiere source of standardized testing methods for the pulp, paper, tissue, and packaging industries; with nearly 250 peer reviewed TAPPI/ANSI test methods, it is the very reason we were founded more than 100 years ago. Our methodology has been continuously improved and updated over the course of a century. TAPPI Standards, including Test Methods (TM), are developed through the consensus of a technical working group acting in accordance with rigorous guidelines. These guidelines require extensive peer review by industry professionals. Since 2009, we have been certified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an American National Standards development organization; this means that our procedures adhere to the standards set by ANSI and are considered as American National Standards.  Of course, every testing method has limitations, and TAPPI/ANSI T 401 clearly outlines its limitations within the TM itself. We see no contradictions in the way Which? applied T 401, and it seems disingenuous to suggest that a TM applied successfully to other brands tested for this article would be inadequate for Naked Sprout. TAPPI is committed to the relevance of its Test Methods and welcomes the opportunity to better serve our industry. If brand owners identify a need for bamboo-specific fiber content testing methods, they may contact TAPPI to begin the process of creating peer-reviewed TMs to add to our catalog of industry critical, ANSI-approved Standards. Contact us at standards@TAPPI.org.”

About Which?

Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, here to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone. Our research gets to the heart of consumer issues, our advice is impartial, and our rigorous product tests lead to expert recommendations. We’re the independent consumer voice that influences politicians and lawmakers, investigates, holds businesses to account and makes change happen. As an organisation we’re not for profit and all for making consumers more powerful.

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