Essity – owner and operator of a tissue and paper mill at Kawerau – is participating in a large-scale restoration of the Tarawera Riverbank over the next 10 years.
The project kicked off in 2020 and was celebrated last week with the first community tree planting day, which included Faylene Tunui, Mayor of Kawerau, New Zealand Retail and B2B Customers, and Essity teams from the Kawerau Mill, Auckland and Melbourne making up the 65 - strong tree planting force.
Around 300 trees, including totara, kowhai, and kahikatea, were planted along the riverbank, which runs alongside Essity’s Kawerau plant.
Essity takes its role seriously as kaitiaki over the 9.2 hectares of the Tarawera river margins. The planting was a part of the restoration projection to enhance, protect and restore the biodiversity along this whenua.
Essity’s Kawerau Mill is the only manufacturer of toilet tissue and paper towels in New Zealand. Consumer products produced at Kawerau include Sorbent and Purex toilet tissue, Handee paper towels, and the B2B product range, Tork. Essity, a global hygiene and health company, is committed to reducing its environmental impact and maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Essity’s Strategy Manager for Manufacturing, David Milne, said the tree planting day was an example of Essity’s desire to show leadership in environmental sustainability and symbolises its commitment to the Kawerau community, many of whom are employed by Essity.
“Restoring the Tarawera River Margins is a significant project for us and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which has given the area a Priority Level 1 biodiversity rating. We were delighted the Mayor and community members could join us to get the native trees into the ground,” Milne said.
In Australasia, Essity manufactures and sells essential everyday consumer products in the period care, incontinence care, consumer tissues, and professional hygiene product categories with market-leading brands – Sorbent, Handee, Purex, Libra, TOM Organic, Modibodi, TENA – that are used in households and businesses across New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji every day. Essity provides Tork branded toilet paper, paper hand towels, soaps, wipes and cloths to professional environments and workplaces across Australia and New Zealand, as well as a complete selection of napkin products for the hospitality markets. The Kawerau paper mill employs 200 skilled staff, many of whom live in Kawerau and local districts.
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