March 3rd, 2023 by Sarah Miles

Cost, functionality, efficiency, and sustainability are all factors that washroom managers have to consider when specifying consumables for their facilities. Achieving all four to their satisfaction is a challenge and often there are compromises to be made. However, new options such as bamboo and sugarcane paper products may just tick all boxes.

Here are why businesses should consider making the swap.

Bamboo

Bamboo is increasingly being used in a range of products, such as toothbrushes, furniture, and textiles. Bamboo is considered a sustainable material due to its fast regrowth rate and because it self-regenerates from its own root system so requires no replanting. While trees can take decades to regrow, bamboo grows in around 3 years.

It is a hugely versatile material and works especially well as a paper product, for a number of reasons:

Absorbency

Bamboo is often used in sports clothing due to the way it wicks moisture away from the skin. These absorbent properties lend themselves perfectly to paper towels, offering better performance than standard paper towels.

Strength

As well as excellent absorbency, the bamboo paper has incredible wet strength due to its long fibres, so it won’t disintegrate and can also be used for cleaning tasks as well as hand drying.

Efficiency

Because they are more absorbent, users require fewer or smaller sheets to get the same results. That means there is less wastage, and the product goes further. This also offers cost savings and requires staff to refill less frequently, reducing workload and minimising the risk of towels running out for users.

Sustainability

We’ve already established that bamboo is a sustainable material in terms of how it grows but its environmental credentials don’t end there. Bamboo paper products are manufactured from leftover material from the construction and gardening industries, so it is material that would otherwise be wasted.

Because it’s so compact, it is also efficient for storing and transporting: one case of bamboo auto-cut towel roll is approximately the equivalent of 6 cases of standard paper C-fold towels.

Hygiene

Bamboo has natural antibacterial properties, which is perfect for a washroom product. This doesn’t just benefit the user when drying their hands, it means that used towels in the waste basket harbour fewer germs and are less likely to create an unpleasant odour.

Sugarcane

Sugarcane paper breaks down quickly due to its short delicate fibres, making it ideal for toilet paper. Just like bamboo, it is manufactured from the waste product, in this case from the sugar industry.

It boasts many of the same advantages as bamboo in that it’s more compact so goes further, is absorbent, and is sustainable. Because of the way it is manufactured, shipped, and used, it has a 64% lower carbon footprint than even recycled toilet paper.

You may expect with all these advantages that there could be some compromise in performance or use but this is not the case. The short fibres make it soft and durable, giving it a premium toilet paper feel.

Combine with dispensers for further efficiencies

As well as their inherent efficiencies and waste-reducing properties, these consumables can be combined with clever dispensers that further regulate use. For example, FIG Autocut Paper Towel Dispenser delivers a single sheet each time, so users are less likely to take more than they need, especially when they realise how absorbent one sheet is.

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