Costco's Kirkland and Walmart's Great Value brands already earn an F on NRDC's sustainability scorecard. Now, both companies won't say if they also profit from a mill clearcutting climate-critical forests and worsening a mercury poisoning crisis, despite NRDC's evidence linking them to it.

The mill's mercury crisis has devastated Grassy Narrows First Nation in Ontario, Canada for generations, poisoning the community's food and its people. It’s time for this injustice to end.

NRDC has pushed the tissue industry for years to stop destroying the Canadian boreal forest — and it's working. Kimberly-Clark, Georgia-Pacific, and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have all made changes. Now it’s time to put this same pressure on Costco and Walmart.

Urge Costco and Walmart to disclose any connection to the Dryden mill — and if one exists, to cut ties.

Tell Costco and Walmart: Come Clean on Toilet Paper

The mill in Dryden, Ontario is located on a river where it’s worsening a mercury crisis.

Photo by River Jordan for NRDC

Big box retailers Costco and Walmart refuse to say whether they profit from using a Canadian pulp mill that relies on the clearcutting of wildlife-rich, climate-critical forests, and that is actively worsening a mercury poisoning crisis.

NRDC found evidence linking their store-brand paper products to the Dryden mill. When NRDC reached out to both companies about this, neither company disclosed whether products sold through their stores may contain pulp from the facility. This raises concerns about transparency, traceability, and accountability in their tissue supply chains.

It's a troubling silence from companies whose Kirkland Signature and Great Value paper products already earned an F on NRDC's sustainability scorecard for their heavy reliance on forest fiber and lack of recycled content.

The mill's mercury crisis has devastated Grassy Narrows First Nation Indigenous community for generations. In the 1960s, it dumped untreated mercury into the local river, poisoning the community's food and its people. The mill no longer dumps mercury directly, but its wastewater interacts with existing mercury in the environment, converting it into an even more toxic form. A recent study shows it's doubling mercury levels in local fish.

This is part of a bigger fight: NRDC has pushed the tissue industry for years to stop destroying the Canadian boreal forest, and it's working. Kimberly-Clark has pledged to eliminate natural forest fiber from its products, Georgia-Pacific relaunched a recycled tissue line, and Procter & Gamble earned its first-ever B grade for a product using more sustainable bamboo fiber.

Now it’s time to put this same pressure on Costco and Walmart.

The Dryden mill’s pollution and Indigenous rights violations must end, and companies sourcing its materials must take action. Sign NRDC's petition urging Costco and Walmart to disclose any connection to the Dryden mill — and if one exists, to cut ties.

Costco CEO Ron Vachris and Walmart CEO John Furner,

NRDC found evidence linking your store brand tissue products — including Costco's Kirkland Signature toilet paper and paper towels, Walmart's Great Value toilet paper, and Sam's Club's Member's Mark toilet paper and paper towels — to the Dryden mill in Ontario, Canada.

This mill is doing double duty on the environment: relying on the clearcutting of climate-critical boreal forest, and worsening a mercury poisoning crisis that has devastated Grassy Narrows First Nation for generations.

When NRDC asked whether your tissue products use pulp from Dryden, neither of you would disclose if our findings were correct.

We're asking you to:

Disclose whether your tissue products are connected to the Dryden mill.
Commit to cutting ties with the mill if a connection exists.

Grassy Narrows First Nation has already lost its primary food source, its health, and its economic livelihood to this mill. Costco and Walmart should not profit from a supply chain tied to ongoing environmental destruction and human rights harm.

Costco CEO Ron Vachris and Walmart CEO John Furner,

When NRDC asked whether your tissue products use pulp from Dryden, neither of you would disclose if our findings were correct.

We're asking you to:

Disclose whether your tissue products are connected to the Dryden mill.
Commit to cutting ties with the mill if a connection exists.

When you take action, you'll become an NRDC member. We will keep you informed with the latest action alerts and campaign updates.

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