• A revolution in the toilet paper segment, Aqua Tube™ is one of the most appealing consumer innovations over the last decades
  • Research shows that more than 70% of people state it’s always them having to clean up the core and change the toilet roll. Aqua Tube™ offers the perfect solution allowing consumers to flush away the tube.

Brussels, 10th January 2011
Georgia-Pacific, one of the leading producers of tissue, paper, packaging and building products in the world, launches Aqua Tube™ in Europe, the first ever fully flushable, biodegradable bathroom tissue center tube, replacing the traditional cardboard core and offering consumers enhanced comfort and convenience during the bathroom break. Recent research, commissioned by Georgia-Pacific, has shown that 80% of consumers are interested to use the flushable Aqua Tube™ as it will make their lives more convenient. 73% of respondents state that it’s always them having to clean up the core.
Thanks to Aqua Tube™, there will be no more fuss or annoyance once the toilet roll has been finished: just throw the tube in the toilet, flush, and it will vanish. The product will be launched across Europe during the course of 2011 starting with Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal, under the brands Lotus and Colhogar.

Breakthrough innovation in the category

Consumer tests have shown that Aqua Tube™ is the most relevant and appealing innovation in the bathroom in the last decades. More than half of consumers don’t recycle their core; they either leave it for the next person or put it in the normal dustbin. And, the research also showed that out of different paper products, the core is the least likely to be recycled (55%). The flushable Aqua Tube™ offers consumers a new choice. This new-generation “core” is the first product of its kind on the market. For the first time, consumers can either flush the tube or recycle it, rather than throwing it out, truly changing the way consumers experience the bathroom break.

Aqua Tube™ is a unique development. Georgia-Pacific has discovered a way to make paper so strong that it can replace the traditional core and yet rapidly dissolve when it touches water. As it is made of biodegradable material, it will start to disintegrate when flushed. Aqua Tube™ can be used in all toilets – even for old installations or in older buildings. Moreover, it does not require additional water as the tube and paper can be flushed together in one flush.

Main survey results

Georgia-Pacific commissioned research via Ipsos in Belgium, France and Spain with over 3000 consumers. The main results were as follows:

  • 82% of respondents are interested in buying the new Aqua Tube™. The main reasons given are convenience (38%) and environment (30%).
  • This makes sense considering only 55% of consumers recycle their cores; one in five simply throws the core with the regular trash and almost one in three just leaves the core in the bathroom for the next person to clean it up.
  • Women replace the toilet paper roll more often than men (83% versus 62%) so this makes Aqua Tube™ a very relevant innovation.
  • 65% of respondents believe that having a flushable tube would make the other household members clean up the “core” more
  • More than half of respondents claim the main reason for not cleaning up the core is simple laziness
  • Belgian consumers recycle the toilet core more than Spanish and French consumers. And this also goes for other materials. Overall 87% of Belgians recycle glass, plastic and paper, which is quite a lot more than Spanish (56%) and French (65%).
  • Men tend to do more activities when in the toilet than women. Almost half of all male respondents read in the toilet, and more than 10% play an electronic game. Almost 50% of women say they don’t do anything else when in the toilet and 35% think men spend too much time in the toilet…

Tarek Hallaba, President EMEA consumer business: “The results of our survey clearly show that Aqua Tube™ will have a significant impact on how we experience our bathroom break, since we are taking care of one of the last little annoyances that consumers have raised. Aqua Tube™ will make your bathroom break that little more convenient; all you have to do is flush the tube down the toilet, and it will immediately disintegrate. At Georgia-Pacific, we believe that Aqua Tube™ is the new-generation “core” and the future for all toilet paper. It is an all-round tube as you can flush it or recycle it. With this most recent innovation, we are demonstrating that Georgia-Pacific is a leader in the toilet tissue category and truly responds to the needs of consumers.” Georgia Pacific values consumer feedback before and after the launch of Aqua Tube™. Therefore, the dedicated website www.aquatube.eu offers a platform for consumers to share their views. The survey results are available upon simple request.

For more information, please contact:

Sara Deleebeeck and Olivia Schwarz
Hill & Knowlton International, Belgium
0032 2 737 95 00
sdeleebe@hillandknowlton.com
oschwarz@hillandknowlton.com

Sabine Henssler
Georgia-Pacific EMEA
0032 2 640 70 76
sabine.henssler@gapac.com

About Georgia-Pacific

Headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of building products, tissue, packaging, paper, cellulose and related chemicals. The company employs more than 40,000 people at approximately 300 locations in North America, South America and Europe. Georgia-Pacific creates long-term value by using resources efficiently to provide innovative products and solutions that meet the needs of customers and society, while operating in a manner that is environmentally and socially responsible and economically sound.