The following are the latest highlights from Essity's operations around the world, covering developments across the group between April and July 2026.
The company has opened a new recycled fiber facility at its Prudhoe mill in Northumberland, UK, the company's largest manufacturing site in the country. The facility raises recycled fiber processing capacity at Prudhoe to more than 100,000 tonnes per year, strengthens domestic fiber supply, and can handle a wider range of recovered paper, including lower-grade materials, while improving energy efficiency. It supports more circular production across Essity's toilet tissue, household towel and hand towel ranges for both consumer and professional hygiene brands, building on the company's position as the largest recycled-fiber user in UK consumer tissue and Europe's leading recycled-fiber user for tissue production.
At its Mannheim plant in Germany, Essity has introduced a new emissions-cleaning system that removes particles and sulfur dioxide from production exhaust gases, cutting emissions by more than 70% compared with previous levels. The system also recovers materials such as magnesium oxide and sulfur for reuse rather than treating them as waste, reinforcing lower-impact pulp production at a site where Essity already runs fossil-free pulp operations.
In France, Minister for Ecological Transition Mathieu Lefèvre visited Essity's Consumer Tissue site in Gien — the first visit by a French government minister to an Essity production site — to review water stewardship efforts, including a new ultrafiltration unit expected to cut water withdrawals by 25–30%, exceeding the government's reduction target.
Separately, Essity has initiated a strategic review of its Consumer Tissue business area, which represented 31% of group net sales in 2025 across roughly 13,000 employees and 29 production facilities worldwide. The review will assess options for the unit, including a potential separation; no decision has been taken.
In the Netherlands, Essity's Edet Smart coreless toilet paper — sold without an inner cardboard sleeve — won the Retail Wheel award in the Personal Care category, recognized for reducing waste while offering more paper per roll.