Positive Power Spotlight, December 2009: Marcal Manufacturing, LLC
Would you believe…a household paper products company that switched to recycled raw materials in 1950, and has been producing recycled paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, and tissues ever since? A company that was so dedicated to creating “paper made from paper, not from trees”(TM) that it actually set up its own paper collection service (and currently collects paper for recycling from a 300mile radius)? A company that saw no reason to jack up prices and has remained a consistent player in the lower price points? And a company that did this with such humility that it didn’t bother telling the public for decades, and didn’t make a big deal about it until this spring?
Yes, this company exists. Marcal, founded in 1932, went to manufacturing its paper products from recycled paper nearly 60 years ago. Small mentions had crept into the packing by the early 1990s—but only when turnaround CEO Tim Spring and several other executives were hired to bring the company back from bankruptcy in 2008 did the company realize it was sitting on a marketing goldmine. This spring (2009), Marcal launched its Small Steps(TM) consumer brand, aimed squarely at environmentally conscious consumers. Not only is it 100% recycled, but the manufacturing process does not use chlorine bleach, the products are hypoallergenic and nearly lint-free
We could save a full million trees if every American household bought just a single roll of recycled paper towels, box of recycled tissues, or package of napkins, the company says.
What does that mean specifically? Every year, saving a million trees would:
- Keep 250 million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air while adding 260 million pounds of oxygen (enough to supply 520 million people)
- Absorb the much carbon produced by a million cars each driving 26,000 miles
- Substantially reduce methane emissions (potentially a bigger problem than CO2) from landfills, compared to using virgin paper
As a consumer, I became aware of recycled paper in the early 1970s, and started looking for suppliers. At that time it was very hard to find any paper identified as recycled, and even harder to find recycled paper that was high enough quality and low enough price to make the switch worth it.
In the past ten or fifteen years, it’s gotten much easier. I now buy exclusively recycled paper not only for household products (where prices are comparable to standard brands) but also for my office printers (where I have to pay substantially more). When I think of how much Marcal recycled paper I would have bought in the decades starting from when I became aware until the market finally caught up, I have to wonder what took them so long.
And now that in the few months since its introduction, Small Steps, which is in about 50 percent of US markets, has become the top-selling recycled brand, Marcal executives must be wondering the same thing. (It just proves the case I make in my forthcoming book Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet that it’s not enough to be a Green company, you also have to tell the world.)
Marcal is even beginning to gather signatures on this nice little eco-pledge:
I am only one person.
But what I do impacts the whole world.
I have decided that the health of the earth is important to me.
I have decided to honor this priority in small ways.
If I can share a ride or take public transportation to help save the air, I will.
If I can make everyday choices that help save energy, I will.
If I can choose recycled paper that help save the forests and wildlife habitats, I will.
The company is promoting the pledge through social media, appearances by its spokesperson, and through a link on its community page. I signed, and I hope you will too. Meanwhile, I’ve been buying Small Steps, and can report that the quality is fine.
Incidentally, in the new book, I discuss ways companies can protect themselves from accusations of greenwashing. One of those is to state honestly that you’ve been using recycled materials for 30 years. Next year, Marcal will be able to double that claim.
(Special thanks to Lindsay Jacob of Marcal for supplying a lot of raw material I used in researching this article.)
Junior said,
Wrote on December 29, 2009 @ 9:09 am
Marcal is the biggest air and water polluter in the state of NJ. They have been fined billions by the EPA. To claim they are a green, eco-friendly company is a joke. As well as a lie.
Shel said,
Wrote on December 29, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
Junior,
When I looked into this, I did find a story about a 2007 order for Marcal to pay $946 million (not, by any stretch, “billions”) for cleanup of the Passaic River. However, the article, https://www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcquality/7epaxwant7.html, rather strongly implied that Marcal was not to blame for the entire cleanup, but could be pinned with the whole cost due to Superfund rules. This was also before the new, eco-oriented management came in. Thus far, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If you have more current information form reliable sources, please post the link here
Dave said,
Wrote on December 30, 2009 @ 4:29 am
This article is full of misinformation.
1. Marcal recycled 20% less tons in 2009 then they did in 2007 before Mr. Spring joined the company due to the fact that they frequently shut down their paper machines due to loss of market share consequently not pulping waste paper and laying off hundreds of workers.
2. The launch of Small Steps has been an unnmitigated disaster. A major loss of market share ….check the Nielsens!
3.Marcal had a huge loss of $ in 2009 .Ask for the financials.
4.Marcal is not in 50% of the retail outlets…try less than 5%.
5. Marcal has been recycling for 50 plus years and has been advertising that fact for 20 plus years .Check the history, the old advertising ,the previous packaging. Google it.Research before writing garbage!
Recycling is great it just is that Marcal has gotten worse at it not better.
Dave said,
Wrote on December 31, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
Shel,
Did not publish my comment ….wonder why. Everything I said was accurate what you published was not. I worked for the company for 20 years and have been in the tissue industry for 30 plus years. you are misleading the public and censoring to boot. I will not go farther with this because I know what you are about and it is not journalism or free speech or accuracy …I guess it is just about making money and self promotion.
Shel said,
Wrote on January 1, 2010 @ 11:20 am
I left for New Years events yesterday, got both your comments at once this morning and have approved both of them, in spite of your accusatory tone. However, as of 1/1, we have moved two of my newsletters including that one behind a firewall as part of a shift in business strategy that was planned months ago and announced repeatedly in past issues of the newsletter. I’m e-mailing you a screen shot with the comments. But trust me, there was no malice in not approving right away. I approve comments when I bring in e-mail and see that they’re waiting, and I only bring in e-mail a couple of times a day.
Henry said,
Wrote on February 21, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
Marcal is the biggest air and water polluter in the state of New Jersey. They have been fined almost a billion dollars by the EPA, and do much more harm than good. They filed Chapter 11 to avoid paying for the clean up, and also used it as an opportunity to break their union contract. Nice guys, huh? Then when they emerged from bankruptcy, they painted themselves green. For them to claim to be a green, eco-friendly company is a joke, as well as a lie.
Hank said,
Wrote on February 21, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
Marcal is the biggest air and water polluter in the state of New Jersey. They have been fined almost a billion dollars by the EPA, and do much more harm than good. They filed Chapter 11 to avoid paying for the clean up, and also used it as an opportunity to break their union contract. Nice guys, huh? Then when they emerged from bankruptcy, they painted themselves green. For them to claim to be a green, eco-friendly company is a joke, as well as a lie.