Kimberly-Clark and Kleenex - wiping away the world's ancient forests

Kleenex, one of the most well known brands of tissue products in the world, is helping to destroy the world's remaining ancient forests.

Kleenex's manufacturer, Kimberly-Clark, the largest tissue product company in the world, continues to use paper and pulp sourced directly from clear cut Boreal forests throughout North America to make products that are used once and then thrown away or flushed down the toilet. The group, produced 3.7 million tonnes of tissue products last year, turning over $14.3 billion in the process.

Yet less than 20 per cent of these products were made using recycled paper. And the company's own website makes a virtue out of this, claiming that "Kleenex Facial Tissue is made from 100 per cent virgin fibre and contains no recycled fibre. Virgin fibre is used in our tissue because it provides the superior softness consumers expect from a premium facial tissue product."

Kimberly-Clark is turning ancient forests like the magnificent North American Boreal forest into tissue paper - to be used once and then thrown away or flushed down the toilet. Even worse, these forests are predominantly logged in clearcuts - a devastating form of logging where most if not all trees are removed from an area of forest.

Thousands of acres of ancient forest are being clearcut each year to supply Kimberly-Clark with the pulp they use to manufacture Kleenex facial tissue and toilet paper, even though recycled alternatives exist.

The North American Boreal forest stretches from Alaska, across Canada, and is the largest tract of ancient forest left in North America. These forests have existed for over 10,000 years and represents 25 per cent of the world's remaining ancient forest. They are home to hundreds of animal species including grizzly bears, wolves, moose, lynx and eagles.

The thick layers of moss, soil and peat of the forest form one of the world's largest terrestrial storehouses of carbon. This carbon storehouse plays an enormous role in fighting climate change.

The forest also houses a rich cultural legacy and is a home for indigenous peoples of Canada. There are over one million indigenous people in Canada, and almost 80% of them live in communities in forest regions - many depend on wilderness lands, waters, and wildlife for their livelihood.

Yet all this is being threatened to make tissue paper and toilet roll.