Creating a Better Future with Alternative Fibers
Ask people where paper products come from and most will point to trees. But far from any forest, Kimberly-Clark is innovating new sources of material designed to meet people’s everyday needs while caring for the planet and creating value for its business.
One new source comes from farms on the Great Plains in the heartland of the United States. This flat, prairie region isn’t home to many trees. But it is ideal for growing wheat.
Mechanized combines have simplified the job of separating wheat grain from the chopped, dried stems and leaves. But this has not solved the problem of what to do with the straw that’s left behind.
“We want to be good stewards and take the right amount of straw off and leave the rest for the next crop,” said Brian Dunn, a wheat farmer in Kansas.
Jessica McCarty, an expert on crop residue at Michigan Tech University, explained that, “Farmers have to get rid of the straw in some way. The easiest way is to burn it, but that impacts air quality. If there was an economic way for farmers to reutilize their wheat straw, I believe burning would just about go away.”
Media contacts:
Terry Balluck
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
+1.972.281.1397
Elizabeth Del Toro
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
+1.972.281.5380
