All tissue and greaseproof paper mills except for Swedish mills have implemented extensions to our basic quality management system, such as instructions for workers on personal hygiene, prohibiting eating and smoking on production areas, pest control and product safety training for personnel, to name a few. In addition to the approval of safe raw materials, the finished tissue paper products are tested to ensure their safety.
Ensuring high-quality product safety
Metsä Tissue’s hygiene and product safety management covers all the subsidiaries, and the entire supply chain, from product development to production and distribution.
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Product safety in manufacturing
All Metsä Tissue’s products are manufactured according to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Paper is typically made in highly automated and closed mechanical process.
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Verified safety and quality of products
Our tissue and greaseproof papers carry several ecolabels, such as PEFC (wood raw material originates from sustainable sources), EU Ecolabel and Nordic ecolabel (manufacturing process and products fulfil the ecolabel criteria). Our greaseproof papers are certified as compostable according to OK Compost Home and OK Compost Industrial.
All greaseproof products excluding wet strengthened grades are recyclable according to the standard UNI 11743:2019. The products achieved Level B, when assessed in accordance with the ‘Aticelca Evaluation Method 501:2019’. There are four levels of recyclability (level A+, A, B, C). Regarding household papers, it is foreseen that they will come into short-term contact with food when used for wiping in the kitchen. Our products are safe for such use.
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We fulfill product safety recommendations and requirements, and follow changes in legislation
We adhere to the recommendations of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) for the selection of raw materials for tissue products that come into contact with food and for product testing. This is part of our compliance work supporting our Declarations of Compliance, and evidence for compliance with the framework Regulation 1935/2004, which requires that materials in contact with food shall not release any substances that are harmful to human health, or that alter the sensory characteristics of foodstuffs. In Metsä Group and in all business areas we follow development in regulations, and ensure that new regulations will be implemented in production.
In addition, we test our products according to BfR guidelines for evaluating sanitary papers. Therefore, our tissue papers are safe for use for sanitary purposes. As a summary, the measures we take to ensure this involve evaluation of raw materials from suppliers, managing process hygiene, and making regular product testing. The procedure with greaseproof papers is the same, but the compliance work cover global requirements for food contact paper.
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Product packaging and labeling
The packaging of tissue papers and greaseproof papers ensures the safety and hygiene of our products by protecting them during the transport and delivery.
All our packaging, both plastic packaging and roll cores, are fully recyclable, and they do not transfer harmful substances to the product or the environment. We buy packaging material from suppliers with strict sustainability criteria. All our mills that manufacture food contact materials except for Swedish mills are certified with either an ISO 22000, BRC or IFS food safety management system.
Our products carry numerous labels, which make it easier for consumers to choose safe and responsible products; e.g. ecolabels such as Nordic ecolabel and EU ecolabel, asthma and allergy labels and labels for suitability for food contact, e.g. 'glass and fork'.