Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 16th April 2026 Issue no. 1206
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Northwood scoops top sustainability award
Professional paper hygiene and wiping products specialist Northwood, has won a top award in the Foodservice Packaging Association Awards. The business beat of stiff competition to take the 'Environmental Sustainability' trophy at the annual Awards, held last week.
The FPA Environmental Sustainability Award recognises firms that have developed solutions which help businesses across the sector to reduce their environmental impact and contribute positively to the environment.
Northwood won the Award for its Green Loop end-to-end recycling initiative, which was created to help customers lower their waste footprint by making it easier than ever before to recycle waste products in washrooms.
Picking up the Award from comedian and actor Matt Lucas, were Craig Williams, Northwood's commercial director, and Paul King, Northwood's CEO.
"The Awards set the standard for excellence in the industry and we are incredibly proud to pick up the Environmental Sustainability award for Green Loop, which is the most comprehensive closed loop recycling service in the market," explains Paul, while Craig adds: "We are delighted to win this prestigious Award, which recognises the hard work and dedication of the business to drive meaningful change and provide innovative solutions to support customer sustainability goals."
The judges praised Northwood's 'Green Loop' initiative for delivering a practical closed-loop recycling solution for washroom waste streams that are typically difficult to recycle. Green Loop is a full-circle service that focuses on recycling three elements - roll inserts, dispensers and used paper towels. All of these items are difficult to recycle in general waste streams, meaning they are more likely to end up incinerated or in landfill, which is not sustainable. By collecting used paper towels, roll inserts and dispensers from customers and recycling them into new hygiene products through its UK paper mills, Northwood has created a scalable circular model with measurable environmental benefits, including significant carbon reductions.
As the most comprehensive closed loop recycling service in the market, Green Loop offers end users the opportunity to increase recycling rates and minimise their environmental impact. Fully embracing circularity, the service collects paper from service users, where it is recycled through one of Northwood's UK paper mills and then manufactured into new recycled paper hygiene products.
Our picture shows, from left: Mike Revell, FPA executive chair; Mark Roe, sales director at Awards sponsor South Staffordshire Paper Products; Craig Williams; Paul King and Matt Lucas.
The Northwood Companies operate across the hygiene sector in the UK and continental Europe. Northwood is a leading supplier of parent reels into the paper hygiene sector and has grown to become one of the leading UK manufacturers in the Away-from-Home tissue market.
www.northwood.co.uk | https://foodservicepackaging.org.uk/2026-award-entries
12th March 2026