Starting in May 2022, the Palsystem Consumers' Co-operative Union has eliminated the handle parts attached for carrying from some of the original toilet paper and tissue wrappers. This reduction in plastic was made possible by the co-op's home delivery system, which allows direct delivery to co-op members' homes.

Palsystem has been actively working on the reduction of plastic emissions since 2017 and has reduced the amount of plastic used in packaging materials for 238 products by the end of FY2021. The total amount reduced over the four years is 118 tons. As part of this effort, a reduction in plastic packaging for five paper products has been achieved.

This reduction was made possible with the cooperation of the manufacturers of Palsystem original toilet paper and tissue paper. Usually, paper products have handles or finger holes to carry them home from the store, but with the original products of Palsystem, which are delivered to co-op members' homes through the home delivery service, there is no need for handles. Therefore, Palsystem called for cooperation from manufacturers to change the packaging material in the production of products, and asked the companies to remove the handles. This is expected to reduce the amount of plastic by more than 2.2 tons per year.

In addition, the ejector film for boxed tissue paper has been eliminated. The width of the opening mouth has been reduced by 20 mm and the length by 5 mm without any inconvenience as each pair of tissues can be taken out one by one. This will result in a reduction of approximately 741 kg of plastic per year.

In addition, all Palsystem original paper products are made from recycled paper. The raw materials consist of used paper packs of milk, beverages, and body soap collected through the home delivery service. Co-op members are encouraged to open, wash, and dry the packs after use, and the delivery staff collects them at the time of product delivery. After collection, the packs are transported to the respective factories as raw materials for recycled paper, where they are reproduced into paper products. 

Toilet paper is rolled approximately twice as long as a conventional roll in Japan. This eliminates the need to replace or buy more, and requires only about half the storage space. In addition, waste is minimized by processing the central part to make it easier to unwind to the end of the roll without inserting a paper core.

Palsystem will continue to cooperate with manufacturers to develop products that reduce environmental impact and expand sustainable shopping options for co-op members.