All tissue and greaseproof paper mills have strengthened their quality management systems with instructions for employees on personal hygiene, strict prohibitions on eating and smoking within production areas, and effective pest control trainings. In addition to approval of safe raw materials, all finished tissue products undergo thorough testing to ensure the safety and quality of the products.
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 a 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 as well as DIN Geprüft Home and DIN Geprüft Industrial standards. Our tissue paper products also have asthma and allergy labels and labels for suitability for food contact, e.g. 'glass and fork'.
All greaseproof paper 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 comply with product safety standards and track regulatory changes
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. For a selection of raw materials to greaseproof papers, we also adhere to U.S. FDA 21 CFR and Chinese Hygienic Standard for Uses of Additives in Food Containers and Packaging Materials. This is part of our compliance work supporting our Declarations of Compliance, and evidence for compliance with the framework EU Regulation 1935/2004, which requires that materials in contact with food contact materials do not release substances that could adversely alter the sensory properties of the food.
At Metsä Group 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 to use for sanitary purposes. The measures we take to ensure this involve evaluation of raw materials from suppliers, managing process hygiene, and making regular product testing. For greaseproof papers the compliance work also covers global requirements for food contact paper.
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Product packaging and labelling
The packaging of tissue papers and greaseproof papers ensures the safety and hygiene of our products by protecting them during transport and delivery.
All of our packaging, both plastic packaging and roll cores, is fully recyclable, and they do not transfer harmful substances to the product or to the environment. We buy packaging material from suppliers with strict sustainability criteria. All of 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.