Not all TP created equal, but all is in short supply
— With more employees working from home, the supply of scrap office paper could soon dry up. The problem? It’s used to make commercial-grade toilet paper, and less supply means less TP.
With hordes of shoppers snatching up toilet paper at retailers across the country, tissue mills continue to run nonstop to produce more.
One link in that supply chain is Royal Paper Stock, a Columbus company that buys recycled material, such as scrap office paper, in bulk and sells it to tissue mills to make toilet paper and paper towels for commercial users such as hospitals.
This isn’t the quilted, lush paper that people buy for their homes; that is made from tree pulp. The thinner, utilitarian paper that most businesses and government agencies use is made from recycled paper, which Royal Paper provides.
But with many offices shutting down or having employees work from home because of the coronavirus pandemic, that supply of office scrap paper could soon dry up.
“There’s less paper for us to pick up. There’s less paper that we have,” said Rich Dahn, vice president of Royal Paper. “The mills’ demand for what we have right now is extraordinarily high right now because they’re running full out, running 24 hours, seven days a week. They’re making as much tissue as they can. So at some point in time, there may be a real fiber shortage.”
Consumers also might be shifting to recycled-source toilet paper because that’s all that’s left on store shelves.
The recycled-paper crunch comes as nonessential businesses in Ohio were shut down by Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday in hopes of slowing the spread of the coronavirus, reducing the flow of scrap paper.
When asked about disruption in the supply chain, Amy Bellcourt, vice president of communication for the professional hygiene division of Essity North America, said, “We’re, of course, always looking at our supply chain. One of the first areas that we focused on was making sure that recyclers were part of that essential group. The next step will be, you know, managing the supplies.”
Shoppers aren’t the only ones stocking up on toilet paper. So are commercial and public entities.
“As you know, it’s a different approach than what you’re seeing in a grocery store. It’s not carts full of toilet paper, but the demand for our products has increased significantly,” Bellcourt said.
Shoppers seem intent on stockpiling toilet paper, perhaps because they worry that they won’t be able to find more. But the reality is that it takes a while to use it up.
One website, howmuchtoiletpaper.com, allows you to enter your typical use, the number of people in your home and the number of sheets in a roll to determine how many days your supply will last. For example, a Charmin mega 12-pack could last about 88 days, depending on various factors.