Affirming Upendra’s view, G.G. Shenoy, Managing Director of Premier Tissues, says that the toilet tissue market in India is not as big as the foreign countries. “Abroad, the culture is to use toilet tissue for toilet purposes unlike India where everyone uses water. The usage of toilet tissue in India is not a big segment. If companies are doing away with toilet paper, it is not that alarming, as even though it is stocked in toilets, some people use and some don’t.”
“But,” cautions Upendra Deglurkar, “if eateries/companies opt to pulling out tissue towels and soaps, it definitely would have serious hygiene repercussions. People are provided with soap and tissue to ensure hand hygiene. Workers in enclosed offices are more prone to viruses and get contaminated easily. As multiple people use the same computer, hand hygiene is critical. Major consumers of tissue are from the offices, IT industry, banks, etc., or where a large number of people come together.
“Each employer has to realise that if 10 of their employees are taken ill it would do much harm to the company than resorting to proper hygiene practices with the use of tissues.”
Well then, the issue of the missing tissue is critical!
Kinds of tissues
Joseph Cayetty, who in 1857 for the first time produced toilet tissue on a machine, would find it hard today to believe how diverse the range of tissue and towelling products has become! Broadly speaking, tissue papers are nothing but a mesh of fibres made out of natural wood or other sources of fibre like grasses that are crushed and digested at pressures of steam and heat. The ensuing slurry produced goes through various processes of filtration, increasing the concentration of fibre and determining its length before it takes on the final dry form. Additives are included in the process to give it a wet strength and texture. Nonetheless, tissues are environment friendly.
Tissues are also made with recycled material. Pudumjee Hygiene Products Ltd also specialises in using recycled material which includes magazines, calendars, etc. “We have a specialised de-inking plant where used paper is treated and processed for graded tissues. The heat and steam used in the process destroy microorganisms making it hygienic. We also use environment friendly bleaching while treating coloured paper,” says Piyush Jindal, CEO of Pudumjee Hygiene. The paper produced either with virgin or recycled material is typically converted to paper napkins, kitchen towels, facial tissues, toilet papers and tissues for industrial use.
Of the tissue papers produced, consumption of toilet paper has the largest market share at about 59% in Europe followed by kitchen towels at 20%, facial tissue at 14% and napkins at about 7%. Globally, the growth of tissue industry could be in the toilet and facial tissue with Europe and America topping the list, but India, where the consumption is more in the towel category, has been tipped as the largest potential market for 2009-10.
Tissues are classified based on the texture and absorbency. Through the years, toilet paper has progressed from rather “harsh to the feel” brown paper to white bleached paper and made with great concern for softness.
Toilet paper is made to perform its intended function and also to break apart into its original wood fines after use. This makes biodegradation easier in septic tanks and water treatment facilities. But other products require more strength when they become wet.
“Well, how many of us know how different is a toilet tissue from a facial tissue except for its texture? How many of us know that toilet tissue is made out of a paper coming from a different mother roll?”
“Interesting in India, toilet tissue has many more usages rather than just in the toilet. People tend to use it for wiping TV screen, glasses, etc. Toilet tissue is coming of some age now,” says Shenoy.
Kitchen towel absorbs water, cooking oils and normal spills. It has higher absorbency, can be washed, squeezed and reused.
Facial tissue must receive some air pressure and moisture in normal use as well as in removing soaps and facial creams. It is made soft and absorbent replacing the erstwhile handkerchief.
In industries, special tissues replace lint used for cleaning.
Tissues are also used for wrapping. It is a type of thin, translucent paper used for wrapping and cushioning items. It is usually found in single sheets or sheet collections of 25, 40, or 50. White tissue is also sold specifically for bulk wrapping in reams. Some shops wrap delicate merchandise in folded or crumpled layers of tissue paper to protect it before placing it in bags or boxes for the purchaser. Production of tissue paper for wrapping is made by the machine glaze process. Slurry of fibre is placed on a forming wire where the water is allowed to drain away. The sheet is then pressed against a felt and pressed against a drying cylinder for the final drying step. The sheet is then pulled away from the dryer and wound up ready for further converting into wrapping paper.
“World over, in 2009, the manufacture of tissue papers is estimated to increase by over two million tonnes with about 100 new tissue machines being brought into production, according to a report. The size of the Indian tissue market is around र 500 crores and is growing on its own at 35%.”
There are differences in the weights of various tissues and in the chemicals added to the basic wood pulp. Shenoy says, “The tissue for cleaning purposes is the towel tissue which is of a higher gsm (grams per square metre) where the fibre doesn’t fall out like the toilet tissue. Towel tissues have a high wet strength.”
The approximate paper strengths of various tissues are 13gsm for facial tissue, 17-18gsm for toilet tissue, 20-21gsm for napkin tissue, 24gsm for kitchen towel and 40gsm towel tissue.
Accordingly, facial tissues should not shred; toilet tissue should disintegrate and shred quickly; napkin should absorb and not shred; and towel should absorb, hold and not shred. The basic ingredient in all these tissues is the same but chemicals and finish differ.
According to Shenoy, the percentage consumption in India is as follows:
- Towel: 50%+
- Napkin: 25-30%
- Toilet: 15%
- Facial: 5-8%.
- Soft napkin (mostly used in high end restaurants) and glazy napkin (the MG poster paper provided by the vendor and which doesn’t absorb): a small percentage.
Awareness & trends
India’s integration with the international world, increasing professionals travelling abroad, foreign companies setting shop in India, and increasing awareness of the use of tissue as an element of hygiene are some of the variables conducive to growth of tissue paper market in India.
Besides exposure, adds Upendra Deglurkar, “Usage of tissue developed with the need to keep employees healthy and to develop good habits so that when they went abroad they followed the same practices.
“A decade ago, the tissue market in India was restricted to the use of probably toilet and facial tissues. Imports were much more stringent and there were not many local brands or global representatives in the Indian market. Then, Kimberly-Clark made its presence with a bundle of toilet tissue and liquid soap pouches propagating the concept of hygiene. Though soaps are not a part of the tissue industry, we promoted its use as an essential commodity of hygiene along with the use of tissue,” states Upendra Deglurkar.
As a matter of fact, when shopping, people tend to pick up a tissue packet off the counter, either because it is less expensive or it has more tissues in one packet. These tissues picked up from the grocery shop or the wholesalers come from many small units that have mushroomed in this industry. These units manufacture all kinds of tissues with any type of imported mother roll, which is generally cheaper, irrespective of its quality, texture and weight.
“People are unaware that a toilet tissue is manufactured from a different type of mother roll which disintegrates when flushed down. Toilet papers otherwise could clog the sewage system in the long run. Similarly, facial tissues manufactured with the wrong base paper would be less absorbent and start shredding when wiping the face,” explains Jindal. Hence, tissue papers manufactured with the right base paper are restricted to products coming from big paper houses, including Pudumjee, Kimberly-Clark and Premier.
Market
Large amount of lower grade ‘Flat’ tissues like high density MG, being manufactured by small mills, are circulating in the market making it all the more difficult for people to understand the difference. It also gives rise to another complicating factor as these mills do not report their production figures. Hence, the total production of tissue in India is unknown. But, according to Century Pulp and Paper, there may be as much as 100,000 tonnes a year of this low quality flat tissue being made by hundreds of small mills around this vast country. There are also approximately 50,000-60,000 tonnes per year of mid-quality or semi-soft tissue made by the existing main players in the market. By Century’s estimates, the market demand in India for high quality tissue paper today amounts to about 40-50,000 tonnes per year. Most of this top quality tonnage is imported either as jumbo rolls or as finished product.
As a comparison, Century adds in a report, demand in China is estimated at about 800,000 tonnes per year of prime grade tissue for a population which is slightly higher than India. “We are only at 50,000 tonnes and it is all imported. So it appears that China is using something like 13 times the per capita amount of India.” Century has procured a tissue machine from Metso Paper of Finland at its unit in Uttaranchal.
Jindal feels that “People have been trying to skimp the market. We at Pudumjee Hygiene work with the vision statement that hygiene is something that affects masses and tissue is something that should be made available to all and not just to the elite or foreign travellers. In the last three years, Pudumjee has been actively engaged in educating people and creating awareness about washroom hygiene and hand hygiene. We have also started holding sessions with various companies for their inductees giving them hygiene tips on how it is hygienic to use hand towels instead a cloth towel, how it is improper to flush it down and has to be thrown in the dustbin as it would clog the plumbing system. We also provide clients with CDs which focus on hygiene with humour and animation.”
Talking about the scene in the institutional market where Kimberly-Clark is a major supplier, Upendra says that many international travellers knew about the necessity of having tissues but lack of availability was a big problem then. . “Our approach was to first supply the product, especially to hotels and airlines industry as they were well aware about the Kimberly-Clark brand and were maintaining health and hygiene standards of international quality. With the IT and BPO sectors, where hygiene & health is of critical importance as workers spend long hours in the office, we used to visit the top companies and advise them on the Hand Hygiene concept…”
Tissue paper is now being viewed for wider applications. Says Shenoy, “Tissue, though a consumer product, is not an essential item. It is mainly consumed by the higher income groups and the people who have visited abroad. The middle and the lower income groups – about 200-300 million forming a major part of the Indian population – seldom use tissues. Besides of course, in hospitals and restaurants, there is always a demand for tissue products.”
Abroad, the kitchen towel segment is the second largest after toilet tissue. In emerging markets, kitchen towel’s share is still marginal. Rising income levels, growing numbers of women at work, and replacement of cloth towels contribute to the increased use of kitchen towels. Other towel products include tissue towels used mainly in the away-from-home segment (gas stations, restaurants, factories, hotels, and hospitals).
Napkins account for a small share of the total tissue paper business. Tourism and growth of the fast food industry are the main demand drivers here.
Asia will see the largest gain at about 40% with Europe, North and Latin America following. Demand for personal hygiene, cleanliness, convenience and the environment spurs this growth.
New Technologies
A shoe press ideal for facial and toilet tissues includes gentle dewatering and drying for retaining the bulk as much as possible, thus improving the structural softness and hand feel of the sheet and allowing an extremely fine crepe. Dewatering is the removal of water from solid material or soil by wet classification, centrifugation, filtration, or similar solid-liquid separation processes.
Another process includes a web uniformity improvement technology that benefits overall machine & converting productivity. This technology controls fragmentation of fibres during creping, which minimises dust on the machine and in the converting process. This aspect could improve health and safety, as well as productivity and quality.
Technologies can impart softness, absorbency and bulk increase. It can also help add a wide range of lotions, balms and converting adhesives. The ability to manage substrate properties in order to maximise the capability to achieve the required value-addition with the minimum of disruption to productivity, is a critical step.
One of the most promising emerging technologies abroad would be with enzyme fibre modification. It takes a total system approach and understanding of the chemistry and mechanics for each type of enzyme. Already, mills are realising great improvements in softness, strength and dust control through the designed use of enzymes to modify the nature of the fibre.
Economic slowdown
The panic created by the economic slowdown is much higher than its impact. Housekeeping companies are reacting instantaneously. “This is basically because the first thing to be hit in cost cutting is what is outsourced. If housekeeping companies are subjected to 30% cut in budget, it is natural that they would be placing one or two rolls of tissue instead of the usual four or five,” says Jindal.
Hence, though the consumption has reduced, the demand continues. “The economic slowdown is not very harsh on this sector,” feels Shenoy, adding that “there will be an impact with the IT industry being hit.”
Adds Upendra: “The slowdown will be evident because of the non-expansion of businesses. IT may not be hiring more employees due to slack business, the number of buildings and facilities could be fewer and hence the growth would be reduced.”
On a positive note, Shenoy says: “At the same time, the consumption in hospitals is largely unaffected. Again, in the hospitality industry, if tourism does not pick up, the consumption of tissue is likely to be affected. In Kerala, the tourism has come down to 25%!
“But again, our exports to Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand are on the increase. There is no recession in usage of tissue paper abroad. So, whatever the drop in the domestic sales, we are able to make up through exports. We are the largest exporter of tissue products from India.”
TAD and more
Tissue papers are produced on complex machines. A modern tissue machine will operate at speeds of 2000 meters per minute (about 120 km/hour.) The wet end section is where the paper fibers (pulp) are formed into a sheet. A pulp slurry consisting of less than 1% wood fines and over 99% water is jetted onto a fabric that forms the paper sheet and also permits a large quantity of water to be drawn through it while leaving the formed paper on the top surface. After forming and drainage, the dry content of the sheet may be around 20%. So, there is a lot of water remaining to be evaporated in the drying process that follows. Generally, tissue machines are of two types; through-air-drying (termed TAD) and dry crepe (termed DC.)
Since its introduction more than 40 years ago, papermakers and suppliers have continued to refine and adopt the TAD process; today, most new tissue machine installations rely on it.
It is beyond question that TAD products possess physical and mechanical characteristics superior to those made through more traditional techniques and which results in unmatchable softness. On TAD machines, after the paper is formed, it is transferred to a fabric that takes it over several large rolls where heated air is blown through the tissue and fabric, thus evaporating water. After transport over these rolls the paper is transferred to a large steam heated roll that is called a Yankee dryer. On DC machines the paper is formed in the same way but there are no rolls where air is blown through the sheet of paper. Rather, the sheet is pressed directly onto the Yankee under high pressure that squeezes water out and into the felt that transported the sheet.
The Yankee dryer may be about 5.5 metres in diameter and over this dryer are two hot air hoods positioned about 2cm above the dryer surface. From these hoods air at temperatures of up to 650°C is jetted onto the paper at velocities around 7000 metres per minute. During the very brief time (a small fraction of one second) that the sheet is on the Yankee, it is dried to its final moisture content of about 95%. To remove the sheet from the surface of the Yankee a steel blade is positioned against the surface of the roll to release the paper. This operation is termed “doctoring” and plays a key roll in increasing the bulk of the paper as the paper is “creped” by the doctor blade. The creped sheet “flies” through the air to the reel where it is wound onto a hard paper core. These rolls are then sent to other machines where they are converted into the final products: rolls of toilet paper; rolls of kitchen towels; boxes of facial tissue and packages of napkins.
Through air machines produce products with the highest bulk (measured in cc/gm) and this is accomplished because the paper is never subjected to high levels of pressing for removal of water. The paper is softer and feels more pleasant when contacting our body. But this feature is costly. TAD products have higher manufacturing cost. Pulp (the wood fines) is by far the most expensive cost in producing tissue. The next most expensive cost is energy. World wide energy costs have been increasing for several years and it is one reason prompting tissue machine manufacturers to seek better ways to make tissue paper. Since pressing on dry crepe machines is the reason that the products do not have as much bulk as TAD products, tissue machine manufacturers have developed different ways of removing water before the Yankee dryer and that permits the sheet to be transferred with considerably less pressing. These machines produce products with bulk almost equal to TAD products but at a much lower energy costs. Likely, these new DC machines will become the standard for making high quality tissue.
The energy for drying comes from steam inside the Yankee dryer and this steam is usually made using fuel oil or another petroleum product. The very hot air in the hoods comes from direct flame heating of air using natural gas or propane gas. It is important that the drying air be clean and free of odor. Saving energy should be of major concern to all people world wide. It lowers the costs of the products and also reduces the greenhouse gases that have been shown to cause global warming.
Frank D. Sorrells, P.E. (fdsorrells@hotmail.com) retired from Metso, the leading manufacturer of tissue paper machines