Kids in Britain are using more toilet paper than anyone else, flushing up to 13,476,238 MILES down the loo every year.
A poll of 2,000 parents of 3–19-year-olds found half are convinced their children use too much loo roll and are the main users in the household.
Of these, 78 per cent have pressured them to use less and a quarter have even set quotas for how many sheets should be used.
The findings showed across 52 weeks of the year, children could be getting through more than 1.1billion rolls in total, around 97.7million 12-roll packs, containing approximately 20,000 tonnes of recycled materials.
Hygiene and health company Essity, which is the UK’s biggest user of recycled paper for tissue production, carried out the study to mark the opening of its new £30million recycled paper facility at its manufacturing site in Prudhoe, Northumberland.
The facility has capacity to take in over 105,000 tonnes of recycled paper annually, turning it into new toilet tissue for UK families and businesses.
Images released by the hygiene and health company show the sheer scale, with children from Prudhoe Castle Primary School posing with a giant 500kg recycled paper bale equivalent to over 4,237 rolls of toilet paper.
Carole Weatherspoon, Key Stage 2 teacher at Prudhoe Castle First School, said: “We were delighted to partner with Essity to launch a recycling collection of epic proportions – and educate our mixed year three and four class on the recycling journey from classroom to bathroom.
“Just seeing the scale of recycling materials used to make toilet tissue might make our children think twice about the amount of toilet roll they are using.
“And our hope is that by visiting the Prudhoe production facility, the recycled bail yard and hearing about how things work, they’ll also be encouraged to pay attention to their own recycling at home.”
The study found of those parents who are convinced their children are the main users of toilet roll in the household, 37 per cent are constantly being surprised at how quickly it depletes.
While a third (33 per cent) of frustrated mums and dads say the empty cardboard tube is a constant indicator.
Toilet roll being used for mopping up spills (15 per cent), or arts and crafts (11 per cent) also contribute towards high usage.
More than half of the parents of three- to 19-year-olds said their offspring uses more toilet paper than they should do.
And so these parents have gone to great lengths to reduce the amount of tissue used, including 36 per cent specifying they are responsible for replacing a roll once it is finished and 15 per cent setting a time limit for how long they are allowed to be in the bathroom for.
For older children, one in 10 parents who are convinced they use too much have insisted they go out and buy new supplies.
But it isn’t just the amount used which causes concern, 27 per cent of all 2,000 parents questioned by OnePoll.com have tried to educate their family on how toilet paper is made.
And this may be down to less than half (44 per cent respectively) being aware that recycled paper towels, napkins or newspapers can be used to make toilet tissue.
Martin Hallissey, for Essity said: “The opening of this recycled fibre facility is a proud moment for everyone at Essity’s Prudhoe mill.
"It’s a significant investment in our site and our people, and it strengthens our ability to source recycled fibre while improving efficiency and reducing waste.
"This facility puts Prudhoe at the forefront of sustainable tissue manufacturing in the UK.”
