Toilet paper panic - which came earlier this year with the emergence of COVID-19 - is back with a vengeance as case numbers continue to soar across the country.
However, a Choctaw County plant continues to roll as the demand for toilet paper has once again stripped shelves in grocery stores nationwide.
The 900 workers of Georgia-Pacific’s Naheola mill near Pennington has been working full-tilt since the early days of the pandemic. It produces retail bath tissue and paper towels, and also turns out bleached paperboard used to make Georgia-Pacific’s plates, cups and bowls.
Company spokesman Greg Guest said demand now is not quite up to where it was in March, when the company saw about 25% higher demand in grocery stores.
“We’re continuing to see somewhere between 10 to 15% range over the last four weeks of what was normal before (the pandemic),” Guest said. “It’s off from the peak in March to mid-May, but it’s remained really strong all year.”
The signs are everywhere.
Target, for example, has placed purchase limits on toilet paper as well disinfectant wipes, multi-purpose spray cleaner and gloves and other items, according to USA Today. A thief in Washington state this week attempted to steal 108 rolls of the white stuff, Oregon Live reported. Slightly more than half of those surveyed in a recent poll said they already have or plan to stockpile food and other essentials.
Back during the early days of the pandemic, Georgia Pacific, along with other toilet paper manufacturers, said there were no issues with supply chains, even as shoppers went from store to store finding empty shelves on the paper products aisle.
The reason for the lack of concern among manufacturers was that at the same time demand for household tissue increased, there was a marked decrease in commercial use - in offices, restaurants and hotels, for example. While those sectors have seen increases since the hard lockdown in the spring, they haven’t completely recovered to their pre-pandemic levels, Guest said. Meanwhile, factories are continuing to turn out roll after roll.
Back before COVID-19, the average U.S. household of 2.6 people used 409 regular rolls of toiler paper per year, Guest said. Georgia-Pacific estimates that staying at home permanently would result in a 40% increase vs. average daily usage. But projecting how much paper will be needed becomes challenging when hoarding begins.
The Naheola mill has seen a lot of action, but it was built to, Guest said.
“These facilities are designed to run 24/7 anyway and to run at pretty much full capacity,” he said. “We’ve been producing upwards of 25% more than we were producing traditionally.”
Another reason the company is able to meet the demand is that the Naheola mill last year saw a $120 million investment that specifically targeted its toilet paper capability. Georgia-Pacific has pumped more than $500 million into the mill over the past six years, and about $1.6 billion into its Alabama operations.