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. By giving used hand towels a second life, Tork PaperCircle helps customers advance their sustainability ambitions while supporting the transition to a more circular economy.
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 years1, 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. By turning used paper hand towels into new hygiene paper products, we help customers reduce waste, make better use of resources and advance their circularity ambitions. The continued growth of the service reflects the increasing demand for solutions that deliver measurable sustainability benefits while supporting business performance.”
Tork PaperCircle supports Essity’s broader sustainability ambitions by promoting resource efficiency and increasing the use of recycled fibers in tissue production. As Europe's largest user of recycled fiber in tissue manufacturing, Essity continues to invest in innovations that help customers reduce environmental impact, improve resource efficiency and advance circularity across value chains.
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.
1 2017: Tork PaperCircle recognized at the European Paper Recycling Awards in the European Parliament. 2018: Visitor’s Choice Award at Interclean Amsterdam, receiving 39% of visitor votes as the most innovative nominee. 2024, German Ecodesign Award / Bundespreis Ecodesign in the Service category. 2025: Sustainability Awards 2025 in the Commercial Initiatives category at the 16th Retail Summit in Warsaw, Poland.