Essity's Tork PaperCircle service collects used paper hand towels from participating customer sites and recycles them into new tissue products at Essity manufacturing plants.
Oct. 14, 2026 - Essity continues to expand Tork PaperCircle, its paper hand towel recycling service, helping customers reduce waste, extend the life of valuable fiber resources and advance circularity goals. Introduced by Essity's Professional Hygiene business in 1994 as the world's first paper hand towel recycling service, Tork PaperCircle has evolved into Europe's leading solution of its kind, helping organizations transform a traditionally discarded material into a valuable resource while keeping fibers in use for longer.
From used hand towels to new hygiene paper products. The service collects used paper hand towels from participating customer sites and recycles them into new tissue products, such as toilet paper, at Essity manufacturing plants.
Today, Tork PaperCircle recycles more than 35 million hand towels each month, helping organizations reduce waste while extending the useful life of recycled fibers. The service has gained external recognition over the years, including awards for innovation, eco-design and sustainability in Europe, underlining its role as a practical circular solution for customers.
Circularity gains ground across Europe. The service has expanded across 15 European markets. Customers range from major corporate headquarters in France, Poland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom to airports in Sweden, universities in Germany and public-sector facilities in Norway.
Across Europe, Essity has seen rising demand from businesses and public institutions for practical solutions to reduce waste and support sustainability goals, with recycling and circularity becoming increasingly important factors in purchasing and tender decisions.
A scalable solution with measurable impact. During 2025, Tork PaperCircle increased by 33% the number of customer sites where used paper hand towels are collected for recycling and collected more than 500 million used hand towels, demonstrating growing demand for circular washroom solutions across businesses and public institutions in Europe.
"At Essity, we believe innovation should solve real customer needs, lead the market and deliver meaningful sustainability outcomes," said Pablo Fuentes, President Professional Hygiene at Essity. "Tork PaperCircle is a strong example of that approach."
Given the success of Tork PaperCircle, Essity has launched the Tork DispenserCircle pilot program, exploring business opportunities and waste reductions. Resulting so far in 240.000 soap, toilet paper, hand towels dispensers getting a new purpose.
Essity is a global, leading hygiene and health company. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other strong brands such as Actimove, Cutimed, JOBST, Knix, Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Modibodi, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, TOM Organic and Zewa.
SOURCE: Essity