PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SCA Tissue North America, a global personal hygiene products company and one of the most sustainable companies in the world, today announced the release of The Tork Report: Healthy People, Healthy Planet™ – a comprehensive study analyzing business and American adult perceptions on hygiene and sustainability. This is the second year the Tork Report has been published, furthering SCA’s commitment to helping their customers conduct better business through expert and peer insights.
“Sustainability and hygiene have significant and increasing value to our customers and their patrons, and we are committed to sharing our expertise and advice in these areas,” said Don Lewis, president, SCA Tissue North America. “We explore clean and green from a number of angles in this year’s Tork Report, including consumer buying habits, perceptions, trends and how all of this affects our customers’ bottom lines.”
This year’s report chronicles new research on topics such as business cleanliness, hand hygiene, business sustainability programs and practices, and foodborne illness prevention. Members of the Tork Green Hygiene Council™, SCA’s collection of industry experts in the fields of hygiene and sustainability, also offer their commentary and counsel throughout the report. The general adult portion of the study was conducted online from Jan. 24-26, 2011 by Harris Interactive on behalf of SCA Tissue North America. Survey subjects were among 2,208 U.S. adults 18 and older. The business professional portion was conducted from Jan. 24th-31st, 2011 by Harris Interactive Service Bureau among a random sample of 1,000 U.S. professionals (managers and above).
Consumers Seek Out Green Businesses
Survey results reveal that 61 percent of American adults are more likely to patronize a company or business that follows green practices. Subsequently, only 30 percent of professionals indicated their business currently has a sustainability program in place.
“Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability, and the businesses they support should do the same,” said TGHC member and co-founder of YRG sustainability, Joshua Radoff. “Businesses can institute policies and programs aimed towards a greener goal that customers will notice – from benchmarking their energy and water use, to setting public reduction targets, implementing green cleaning and healthy facilities programs, and organizing sustainability task forces among their staff – to show their commitment to the environment and their patrons.”
Keep it Clean
Patrons’ awareness of the facilities they enter is continuing to grow. And when those facilities seem unclean, customers are willing to share their opinions. However, research showed that sometimes these patrons won’t be upfront with the establishment itself, but would share their perceptions with others. Twenty-five percent of American adults would keep their displeasure to themselves or tell someone else about the unhygienic facility, a clear indication that customer disapproval is likely to spread via word of mouth.
“If your facility isn’t hygienic, customers may not want to come back because it can leave them with an overall negative impression,” said TGHC member and associate professor at the University Of Michigan School Of Public Health, Allison Aiello. “Customers look for restrooms that are clean and common areas free of clutter and grime-free desks and tabletops. Keeping focus on a hygienic environment tells the customer that a business is invested in their health and wellness.”
Additional Tork Report Findings
Other noteworthy research in the Tork Report includes:
- Fifty-six percent of American adults who use public restrooms keep their hands under the hot air dryer until they are completely dry, allowing the number of germs on their hands to grow
- Thirty-six percent of American adults think that drying wet hands with a paper towel is the most hygienic method of hand drying
- Seventy-eight percent of American adults are at least somewhat concerned about contracting or spreading foodborne illness
- Forty percent of American adults have noticed additional green efforts from local businesses around them
To download the complete report and learn more about what it means for your business, visit www.torkgreenhygienecouncil.com.
About Tork
The Tork brand offers a complete range of products and services within hygiene and cleaning for professional washrooms, healthcare, food service and industry. Through customer understanding and particular expertise in hygiene and sustainability, Tork has become a market leader in many segments and a committed partner to businesses in over 80 countries. Tork is a global brand in the SCA hygiene portfolio. To keep up with the latest Tork news and innovations, please visit: www.sca-tork.com.
About TGHC
SCA created the Tork Green Hygiene Council (TGHC) to assist in its ongoing commitment to providing hygienic and environmentally responsible away-from-home washroom solutions. Comprised of top professional and academic authorities from across the country on green building, corporate sustainability, hygiene and germ prevention, the TGHC is a council of four experts that offer holistic and trusted perspectives on how businesses can create sustainable and healthy work and home environments. More information can be obtained at www.torkgreenhygienecouncil.com.
About SCA Tissue North America
Headquartered in Philadelphia, SCA Tissue is one of the three largest producers of tissue products for non-residential markets in North America and was the first American papermaker to earn EcoLogoTM certification for its environmentally sustainable processes and Tork products.
About SCA
SCA is a global hygiene and paper company that develops and produces personal-care products, tissue, packaging solutions, publication papers and solid-wood products. Sales are conducted in some 100 countries. SCA has many well-known brands, including the global brands TENA® and Tork®. Sales in 2010 were $15 billion. SCA has approximately 45,000 employees. More information can be obtained at www.sca.com.
Survey Method
The general adult survey was conducted online within the United States between January 24th –26th, 2011 among 2,208 adults (aged 18 and over) by Harris Interactive on behalf of SCA via its Quick Query omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
The business professional survey was also conducted online by the Harris Interactive Service Bureau (HISB) on behalf of SCA North America from via its Harris Poll Online, (HPOL) between January 24 – 31, 2011 interviewing a random sample of 1,000 U.S. professionals (managers and above), both male (53%) and female (47%) representing the following industries:
- Accommodation and Food Services (3%)
- Administrative Support Services (8%)
- Business Services (10%)
- Education (27%)
- Healthcare and Social Assistance (19%)
- Manufacturing (14%)
- Other Services (8%)
- Public Administration/Government (11%)
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with non-response, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100 percent response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
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