G-P’s New Tissue Center Tube Can Be Flushed or Recycled

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Georgia-Pacific, Atlanta, Ga., USA, has launched Aqua Tube in Europe, which the company says is the first ever fully flushable, biodegradable bathroom tissue center tube, replacing the traditional cardboard core "and offering consumers enhanced comfort and convenience." Recent research, commissioned by G-P, has shown that more than 80% of consumers are interested in using the flushable tube as it will make their lives more convenient.

With Aqua Tube, G-P notes, there is "no more fuss or annoyance once the toilet roll has been finished. Just throw the tube in the toilet, flush, and it will vanish." The product will be launched in Europe during the course of 2011 starting with Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, under the brands Lotus and Colhogar.

As G-P explains, more than half of consumers don't recycle their core. They either leave it for the next person or put it in the normal dustbin. Research also showed that of the many different paper products, the core is the least likely to be recycled (55%). Aqua Tube, however, gives consumers a choice of either flushing or recycling it. Aqua Tube is constructed of paper made so strong that it can replace the traditional core and yet rapidly dissolve when it touches water. Because it is made of biodegradable material, it will start to disintegrate when flushed.

Research in conjunction with the launch of this new product was done by Ipsos in Belgium, France, and Spain with more than 3,000 consumers. Some 82% of respondents said they were interested in buying bathroom tissue with the new tube. The main reasons for interest were convenience (38%) and environment (30%). Other interesting survey results were:

• Only 55% of consumers recycle the core (one in five simply throws the core in the regular trash and almost one in three just leaves the core in the bathroom for the next person to clean it up)
• Women replace the toilet paper roll more often than men (83% vs 62%)
• 65% of respondents believe that having a flushable tube would make other household members clean up the "core" more.