Co-op is launching an own-label kitchen towel made from fully recycled content, including recycled cardboard.
The convenience retailer will roll out the product to 1,000 of its stores in early 2024 as part of its Honest Value range. It is claimed that the new line will save 230 tonnes of pure pulp, which is currently the most common material in the market used to manufacture kitchen towels.
Working with its supplier WEPA, the product has been developed with new blend of recycled materials made from 70% cardboard fibres – such as brown boxes used for home deliveries – while the remaining 30% is recycled fibres from sorted office waste.
Historically, office waste was utilised as the main source of recycled fibre to create recycled paper products. However, due to the pandemic and resulting changes to working behaviours, sorted office waste has drastically declined.
The new fibre source for the product – which is also a direct impact of the pandemic with people receiving more home deliveries – comes from brown cardboard fibres, which gives the kitchen towel its pale beige colour. The change in colour, alongside reassurance of the quality and absorbency of the product, will be communicated with on-pack messaging.
Janet Lawrence, technical manager at Co-op, said: “This product directly supports a circular recycling economy, which we champion at Co-op, helping us to achieve our sustainability goals. The clever use of cardboard fibres, which are more abundant in UK post-pandemic, is such a great message. We understand customers might be confused by the beige colouring of the kitchen towel, when they are used to white, but we want to reassure shoppers that this product has the same absorbency and quality as the previous line.”
The new own-label kitchen towel will be 5% cheaper than the current Honest Value SKU and will retail at £1.85.
