UK supermarket chain Tesco has partnered with its supplier WEPA to recycle used cardboard boxes into toilet rolls using a new pulp production process. 

The advanced technology repurposes thousands of tonnes of corrugated cardboard into premium toilet rolls and kitchen towels.  

The process involves combining recycled cardboard such as home delivery boxes and supermarket corrugated cards with other recycled paper materials.  

These are then mixed with water to form a pulp, which is subsequently cleaned to produce fibres suitable for paper production.  

This manufacturing process reportedly requires less resources, including water, chemicals, and energy, compared to the traditional use of tree fibre. 

The resulting paper products are unbleached, which gives them a distinctive beige colour.  

Tesco has introduced three new products to its own-brand range, including 100% Recycled Brown Kitchen Towel, Luxury Soft 100% Recycled Brown Toilet Tissue in four, and six long roll packs via using this solution.

The products, claimed to be a first for supermarkets, offer consumers products that are said to be both eco-friendly and high quality in terms of softness and absorbency. 

The aforementioned additions are available in 100 Tesco Extra stores nationwide, with plans for further expansion. 

Tesco household category director Philip Banks said: "The explosion of home deliveries since the pandemic has created an abundance of recyclable cardboard boxes right on our doorstep.

"The manufacturing process our supplier has developed, that turns them into incredibly soft toilet roll and kitchen towel, allows us to create a second, sustainable use for them that couldn’t be more different!” 

Last December, the supermarket chain announced a significant change to its own-brand pocket tissue multipacks to cut plastic waste.