How we skip unnecessary packaging

At Naked Paper, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about loo roll; the problems with the way it’s normally made, and how to do it right. Our toilet paper, kitchen rolls, and tissues are brown because we go without the bleach that’s standard in our industry; they’re dried using renewable energy because the drying stage is where most fuel gets used. 

And today we’re sharing our thoughts on another change we’ve made from the standard formula; how we package our products. 

It may not seem like a big deal, but when you look at how most toilet paper is packaged and presented, even among more eco options, there’s plenty of room for improvement. 

Let’s get to it. 

Plastic film on supermarket toilet roll

We’ll start with an obvious source of unnecessary pollution. Most of the toilet paper you’ll find in UK supermarkets still comes wrapped in lightweight plastic film that’s covered with the company branding and information. 

If you’ve ever tried to recycle this you know it’s not always easy to get rid of. “Soft plastic” won’t generally go in kerbside recycling in the UK, so for lots of us the only option is to take it to a supermarket that has a dedicated drop-off point for this type of waste.

If it’s difficult to dispose of responsibly, why are manufacturers so keen on using it?

In short, cost and convenience. Plastic packaging is lightweight and durable so it works well with high-speed machinery. It allows manufacturers to wrap smaller packs of two, four, or six rolls  quickly and efficiently, helping to keep costs down while maintaining profit margins.

We’ve taken a different approach. At Naked Paper, we sell larger boxes of 24 or 48 rolls. These are packed straight off our renewable energy-powered production lines into sturdy boxes made from recycled cardboard that you can pop straight into your household recycling when you’re done.

And by reducing waste across the board and selling in bigger boxes we're keeping our prices down. As a result Naked Paper is often the same price, or even cheaper, than plastic-wrapped equivalents you'll find in supermarkets.

Extra wrapping on eco toilet paper

When it comes to eco toilet paper, you won’t see a lot of plastic packaging. But you might spot another type of unnecessary wrapping that’s much more common in the eco sector than outside it; sheets of brightly coloured paper around each roll. 

It might seem like a small extra but all of that paper adds up. With the average person using 127 rolls of toilet paper per year, that’s the equivalent of 128 meters of wrapping, longer than the height of Big Ben. 

So why is it there? 

Some companies say this extra wrapping helps protect toilet paper from moisture in the air. But everything is exposed to the same atmospheric moisture, so if you’re not wrapping your tea towels or flannels in sheets of colourful paper, you probably don’t need to worry about your loo roll. 

Another reason often given is that wrapping makes rolls easier to store and keeps them dust-free. We’ll be honest, in all our years selling loo roll we’ve never known them to gather dust! Most people keep their spare rolls in a cupboard or in the box they arrived in, and just take one out when needed. If a roll did sit out long enough to get dusty, removing the outer sheet or two would sort it.

There’s one final reason that’s a bit more straightforward: it looks good. Wrapped rolls are eye-catching, they stand out on social media and they look fancy in your bathroom. 

As a branding exercise, we get the appeal. But for us, it’s not worth all those meters of extra paper, or the energy, dyes, or water it would take to decorate them.

Anyway, we think our bleach-free brown loo roll looks fancy enough already.

Weird inserts in wholesale toilet paper 

Plastic film and colourful wrapping is easy enough to spot, but there’s more unnecessary packaging lurking in the loo if you know where to look. Let’s step outside the home and into public loos like the ones in universities, airports, and cafes. 

The toilet paper in public toilets will normally come in the form of big “jumbo” rolls fitted inside dispensers. And where the dispenser meets the roll you’ll often find an extra bit of plastic.

These plastic inserts come with the jumbo rolls, and manufacturers make them to fit particular dispensers. This means that once you’ve fitted a dispenser, your only options for refills are the ones made by that same brand. 

It’s a clever bit of business strategy but those adapters are usually single-use plastic, and they’re thrown away with every roll. Given how much toilet paper is used in public and workplace settings, this adds up quickly. 

Our approach is, again, to keep things straightforward. Naked Paper jumbo rolls use a simple recycled cardboard core, with no hidden plastic parts. Businesses can fit them in Naked Paper dispensers if they like, but we’re not locking them in. 

You can find them on our wholesale website. 

What about cardboard cores?

Before we go, we’ll touch on our cardboard tubes that go at the centre of our rolls. A few customers have asked whether we’ll be offering “coreless” rolls in the future.

It’s something we’re exploring. But for now, our cores actually play a useful role. They allow us to make use of the locally-collected waste cardboard that isn’t suitable for our recycled toilet paper because it’s too thick, or too dark.

So our cores actually serve a purpose in helping us keep our overall footprint lower and make the most of the resources we have.

That said, we always want to make Naked Paper work as well as possible for everyone, so if you’d like to vote for coreless rolls please let us know. We are always delighted to receive feedback and suggestions at hello@nakedpaper.com, or on our Facebook page. 

Keeping it simple

That’s a wrap! 

(With no extra plastic or paper in sight…)

At Naked Paper, we’re not interested in adding things for the sake of it. Our rolls are packed with care in a sturdy recycled cardboard box, and our tissue comes bleach free and beautifully brown.  

If there’s ever a packaging malfunction you can reach us at hello@nakedpaper.com and we’ll sort it right away, and that’s also the place to go if you have any questions about Naked Paper or suggestions for how we could improve. 

Just want loo roll made right? Head over to our shop.