Greenpeace toilet paper campaign 'putting jobs at risk'

The war of words between Greenpeace and Cottonsoft has continued, with the toilet paper manufacturer rejecting claims its products kill endangered tigers.

And it says the “unwarranted” campaign against its products is putting at risk more than 100 jobs.

Greenpeace, supported by the Green Party and the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), has called for retailers and consumers to boycott Cottonsoft, claiming independent testing found mixed tropical hardwood in the toilet paper.

Mixed tropical hardwood is associated with deforestation in Indonesia, which Greenpeace says is destroying the natural habitats of animals like the Sumatran Tiger.

Greenpeace has also posted a youtube video “Tiger dies for Cottonsoft toilet paper”, showing a tiger dying in a trap in an area of rainforest allegedly controlled by Cottonsoft’s owner Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

APP says the trap was set by a local villager.

The Greenpeace campaign has already resulted in The Warehouse suspending orders of Cottonsoft.

But Cottonsoft’s director of corporate affairs Steve Nicholson says there’s “no credible evidence” for the allegation Greenpeace is making against Cottonsoft products.

“Cottonsoft products are approved by one of the world’s leading authorities on forest certification.

“That means that Cottonsoft products do not contain any high conservation value wood, which is fully protected under Indonesian law.”

Mr Nicholson says he test that Greenpeace commissioned, published and is now citing in the media lacks scientific credibility.

“The US-based testing body that conducted the Greenpeace research has limited knowledge of tropical hardwood.

“The terms it used in the test are extremely vague and open to interpretation. Based on our reading of this material, which refers to 'suspected tropical hardwoods,' the testing appears to be guesswork.

“Cottonsoft is open to any further tests by independent, credible scientific authorities.”

Mr Nicholson says that in persisting in putting “unfair and undue pressure” on retailers to stop stocking Cottonsoft retail brands, Greenpeace is endangering the job security of Cottonsoft’s 130 New Zealand employees in its Auckland and Dunedin plants.

“We have been operating in New Zealand for 25 years, and consider this unwarranted attack on our reputation and staff to be unacceptable.”