Speaking on the eve of a new round of national and metropolitan newspaper advertisements targeting Woolworths for sourcing many of its Select Brand paper products from the discredited Asia Pulp & Paper, Tim Woods, Secretary of the Pulp & Paper Workers' Branch of the CFMEU said:
"Woolworths' public and corporate statements about their green credentials are blatant green washing. Actions speak louder than words. Woolworths' continues to source its Select Brand toilet paper from Asia Pulp & Paper despite knowing of that company's appalling environmental record and the problems that has created for Woolworths."
Woolworths has twice been forced to take the Select Brand paper products off the shelves because the packaging contains false and misleading claims that the products are made from "sustainable forest fibre".
All Woolworths has done is sticker over the claims and put the products back on the shelves. Mr Woods said:
"Hiding known environmental problems with stickers as Woolworths has done is a very nasty form of green washing. Woolworths cannot argue they don't know the products are unsustainable when they rushed to do the stickering.
"The stickers merely cover the bogus claims and don't contain new and factual information saying ‘This Product Is Not Sustainable'.
"Of course, if Woolworths was fair dinkum about sustainability issues, they would permanently remove the Select Brand paper products from the shelves."
Mr Woods said that Asia Pulp & Paper - the supplier of Woolworths Select Brand tissue products - has become an international pariah.
"While Woolworths happily sells APP products, the giant US-based paper retailer Staples has just announced it will no longer deal with APP because of APP's environmental practices."
Mr. Woods said the livelihoods of Australian paper workers, their families and entire communities were threatened by the sale of these unsustainable Select Brand paper products.
"The management and board of Woolworths should be ashamed of what they are doing," Mr Woods said. "That is why we are stepping up our campaign to bring the facts to Woolworths' consumers and shareholders. We are going public and staying public until Woolworths comes to its senses."
