# Kimberly-Clark > One working view of Kimberly-Clark's fiber and nonwoven product lines, tissue-mill footprint, and its own published fiber and recycling commitments. - Industry: Consumer Goods & Apparel - Collection: Active - Materials: Aluminum, Organics, Paper and fiber, PFAS, Plastics, Textile fibers, Water - Processes: Recycling, Wastewater treatment, Energy recovery - Evidence through: 2026-09-18 - Canonical URL: https://www.materialtransition.com/library/kimberly-clark ## Reported scale and scope - **FY2025 net sales:** $16.447B (Year ended December 31, 2025) - **TRI facility leads:** 5 (2024 U.S. match) - **Managed listed chemicals:** 658K lb (2024 U.S. listed-chemical data) - **Products out:** 3 families (Publicly described) - **Top TRI chemical:** Nitrate compounds (water-dissociable) (By managed weight) ## Company research **Revenue basis:** This page uses Kimberly-Clark's reported FY2025 net sales of $16.447B (year ended December 31, 2025), per its 10-K and year-end results release. An SEC XBRL value of $4.080B for the period ending December 31, 2025 is about one quarter of that figure ($16.447B ÷ 4 ≈ $4.11B), so it is read as a single-quarter value and is not used as annual revenue. [1] ## Company flow Public evidence, arranged around the physical system rather than the corporate org chart. 01 · MATERIALS IN #### Feedstock & input family Not publicly disclosed at parent level in this source set. Directional sector family only: packaging, fiber, aluminum, polymers, ingredients, personal Public category signal 02 · MAKE #### Personal Care Huggies, Kotex, and Depend, diapers, feminine care, and adult incontinence products built on superabsorbent-polymer and nonwoven fiber core Company described 03 · PRODUCTS OUT #### 3 public product families Huggies / Kotex / Depend, Kleenex / Scott / Cottonelle, and 1 more described lines. Company described 04 · WASTE OUT #### Listed-chemical streams 658K lb managed in 2024 TRI records across 5 matched facility leads. Listed-chemical view #### What is public now Buyer-side sector Consumer, food & retail Waste-side sector Food, consumer, pulp & packaging Segments Personal Care; Consumer Tissue; K-C Professional Public plant signal 5 TRI facility leads define the public operating footprint #### Segment breakdown Personal Care Huggies, Kotex, and Depend, diapers, feminine care, and adult incontinence products built on superabsorbent-polymer and nonwoven fiber cores. Consumer Tissue Kleenex, Scott, and Cottonelle tissue and towel products, manufactured at cellulose-fiber mills including Owensboro, KY and Loudon, TN. K-C Professional Commercial washroom, wiping and PPE products. Kimberly-Clark's 2018 RightCycle release lists qualifying nitrile gloves, single-use apparel and polypropylene wipers; it does not establish acceptance of tissue-mill trim. [7] #### Regulatory watchlist State Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (multiple U.S. states) EU Single-Use Plastics Directive relevance for wet wipes PFAS restrictions in food-contact and personal-care packaging EPA Clean Water Act effluent guidelines for pulp and tissue mills #### Certification families to check Fiber sourcing (2025): 95% of tissue fiber from environmentally preferred sources; FSC-certified virgin wood fiber was 77% of total virgin-fiber purchases. ISO 14001 **Evidence boundary:** Kimberly-Clark describes a K-C Professional RightCycle program, including eligible nitrile gloves, single-use apparel and polypropylene wipers. The public material reviewed here does not show that the program accepts nonwoven or superabsorbent-polymer trim from the three named facility leads, nor does it establish that any such material is available for recovery. [7] ## Products leaving the system Publicly described product families and segments define Kimberly-Clark's outward material flow. Company described #### Huggies / Kotex / Depend Diaper, feminine-care, and incontinence products built on superabsorbent polymer and nonwoven fiber. Segment: Personal Care #### Kleenex / Scott / Cottonelle Tissue and towel products manufactured at fiber mills including Owensboro, KY and Loudon, TN, two of the three named TRI leads. Segment: Consumer Tissue #### K-C Professional wipers & PPE Commercial nonwoven wiping and protective-equipment products, the direct input stream to the RightCycle recycling program. Segment: K-C Professional #### Product and application signal The cited product and segment pages identify product families and applications. This brief does not include grade- or SKU-level technical, safety, packaging, or certification records. ## Materials entering Kimberly-Clark's system Directional material-family signal, matched against the company's public segment structure and TRI-listed chemical evidence. Public category signal | Material family | Public signal | Transition lens | |-|-|-| | Not publicly disclosed at parent level in this source set | Directional sector family | Substitution, origin resilience, recycled or bio-based content | | Top TRI-listed chemical: Nitrate compounds (water-dissociable) | TRI-verified, 2024 | Owensboro, KY is the largest of three named leads at 370.5K lb, followed by Loudon, TN and Jenks, OK, all reporting nitrate compounds as the top chemical, consistent with wastewater treatment at fiber-processing mills rather than a core production input. | | Recycled, bio-based, or recovered inputs | Public program signal | See Packaging and Opportunities tabs for named public programs | #### Financial scale context $16.447B FY2025 net sales (year ended December 31, 2025) provides scale context for sourcing and waste opportunities. It is not a materials-spend measure. #### Material transition focus TRI-listed chemical stream is public; exact material mapping still requires facility and chemical review. Directional residual forms only: organic residuals, fiber sludge, wastewater residuals, trim, off-spec product, and packaging. ## Packaging and circularity programs Public circularity, recycling, and take-back signals connect Kimberly-Clark's product system to a packaging or materials transition pathway. Packaging & circularity signal #### RightCycle Program Kimberly-Clark's 2018 release says RightCycle had diverted more than 300 tons cumulatively since its 2011 launch. It lists qualifying nitrile gloves, single-use apparel and polypropylene wipers, subject to contamination exclusions. This historical milestone is not current annual throughput or proof of tissue-mill trim acceptance. [7] #### Fiber sourcing Kimberly-Clark's 2025 report says 95% of tissue fiber came from environmentally preferred sources, a category that includes FSC-certified virgin fiber, recycled fiber and sustainable alternative non-wood fiber. Separately, FSC-certified virgin wood fiber represented 77% of total virgin-fiber purchases. These are sourcing measures, not the share of finished products with FSC certification. 2025 Sustainability Report [6] #### 2030 Ambition, Natural Forest Free Kimberly-Clark's 2025 report says it reached 95% of tissue fiber from environmentally preferred sources, above its 90% 2025 milestone. Its 2030 Natural Forest Free ambition is a separate longer-term commitment. #### Wastewater nitrate signal Nitrate compounds, the TRI-reported top chemical at all three named mills, are a common effluent-treatment byproduct at pulp and tissue operations, consistent with the Clean Water Act effluent-guideline framework these mills operate under. #### Packaging & circularity opportunities #### Extend RightCycle to mill trim Explore Apply K-C Professional's own proven nonwoven/PPE diversion model to nonwoven and superabsorbent-polymer trim generated at Owensboro, Loudon, and Jenks. #### Fiber-certificate scope verification Evidence first Kimberly-Clark's 2025 report separately reports that 95% of tissue fiber came from environmentally preferred sources and FSC-certified virgin wood fiber represented 77% of total virgin-fiber purchases. These are different sourcing measures, not a finished-product FSC certification rate. 2025 report source [6] ## Reported residual streams The EPA 2024 Basic Data File returns six forms across five TRI facility IDs for the exact standard-parent-name match KIMBERLY-CLARK CORP. These are listed-chemical records, not a complete waste-flow inventory or verified current site-ownership list. EPA TRI source and method [8] 2024 U.S. listed-chemical data #### 657,963 lb of on-site releases in six matched 2024 TRI forms - **Off-site recycling:** 0 lb recorded - **Off-site energy recovery:** 0 lb recorded - **Off-site treatment:** 0 lb recorded - **Total transfer:** 0 lb recorded **Scope:** The values describe listed-chemical reporting in the six returned forms. They do not describe total company waste, establish current facility ownership or operations, or prove a recoverable material stream. EPA TRI source and method [8] #### Named public facility leads Kimberly-Clark Corp Owensboro Operations · Owensboro, KY 370,509 lb Kimberly-Clark Corp Loudon Mill · Loudon, TN 191,400 lb Kimberly-Clark Corp · Jenks, OK 52,037 lb **What determines a viable recovery route:** validate legal owner, operator, process, stream identity, assay, contamination, current disposition, permit fit, receiving specification, and delivered economics. #### Potential receiving markets #### RightCycle-style specialty recyclers Kimberly-Clark's 2018 release describes RightCycle for qualifying nitrile gloves, single-use apparel and polypropylene wipers, subject to contamination exclusions. It does not establish that the program accepts nonwoven or superabsorbent-polymer trim from the Owensboro, Loudon or Jenks tissue mills. [7] #### Recycled-fiber mills A standing buyer class for tissue-mill trim and off-spec fiber, subject to source separation and chain-of-custody evidence. #### Composters Candidate receivers for organic residuals from fiber processing, subject to contamination and moisture limits. #### Packaging converters Downstream buyers for any qualified recycled-content packaging film or fiber board. ## Fiber and recovery evidence boundaries ### Highest-leverage public opportunities These opportunity hypotheses connect Kimberly-Clark's public product, TRI, and circularity-program signals to specific material-transition pathways. #### Extend RightCycle to consumer-tissue mills Evidence first K-C Professional describes its RightCycle program, but the reviewed sources do not establish that its intake specifications cover nonwoven or superabsorbent-polymer trim from these named tissue mills. No site-level stream volume or current receiving route is verified here. [7] - Trim-stream volume by mill - RightCycle intake spec - Program extension sign-off #### FSC certificate-scope verification Certificate check The 2025 report's 95% tissue-fiber measure and 77% virgin-fiber purchase measure have different denominators; neither is a product-level FSC-certification rate. [6] - Certificate number and holder - Mill-level scope - Expiry and registry check #### TRI reporting scope Data closure In the six exact-parent 2024 forms, on-site releases total 657,962.71 lb; off-site recycling, energy recovery, treatment and total transfer each record 0 lb. These listed-chemical records are not a complete waste-flow or current-ownership inventory. EPA TRI source and method [8] - Facility-level TRI pull - Category reconciliation - Corrected public disclosure #### Evidence boundary Public disclosures describe K-C Professional's RightCycle program and company-wide fiber-sourcing measures. They do not establish that the three facility leads generate a particular trim stream, that such material is accepted by RightCycle, or that it is available for recovery. The 2025 fiber percentages are company-level sourcing measures, not product- or mill-specific certifications. Fiber source [6] · [7] ## Material Transition editorial interpretation This brief separates the disclosed record from the evidence still needed. Bring the relevant specification, facility or product-family evidence into the review. ## Sources - [1] www.investor.kimberly-clark.com - https://www.investor.kimberly-clark.com/news-releases/news-release-details/kimberly-clark-reports-strong-finish-second-year-transformation - [2] U.S. EPA TRI - https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-basic-data-files-calendar-years-1987-present - 2024 U.S. TRI Basic Data Files, facility, parent, chemical, and management-category quantities. - [3] U.S. SEC, Company Facts - https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0000055785.json - SEC XBRL Company Facts for Kimberly-Clark Corp, CIK 0000055785. - [4] Kimberly-Clark Professional, RightCycle expansion - https://www.investor.kimberly-clark.com/news-releases/news-release-details/kimberly-clark-professional-expands-rightcycle-first-large-scale - Official release describing the RightCycle program's scope and expansion into industrial environments. - [5] Kimberly-Clark, Forests & Biodiversity - https://www.kimberly-clark.com/en-us/sustainability/forests-and-biodiversity - Official fiber-sourcing page citing the ~97% FSC-certified tissue figure and 2030 Ambition targets. - [6] Kimberly-Clark 2025 Sustainability Report, fiber measures - https://www.kimberly-clark.com/-/media/feature/kcc/corporate/pdf/key-download-pdf/KMB-2025-Sustainability-Report_Final.pdf?hash=C9339ACC748B7F7211F15DC7C3878512&rev=-1 - A short exact-passage excerpt was retained from the official report's rendered search result. The report distinguishes 95% of tissue fiber from environmentally preferred sources (including FSC-certified virgin, recycled and sustainable alternative non-wood fiber) from 77% FSC-certified virgin wood fiber as a share of total virgin-fiber purchases. Neither figure means that 97% of finished products are FSC-certified. - [7] Kimberly-Clark Professional RightCycle program release - https://www.investor.kimberly-clark.com/news-releases/news-release-details/kimberly-clark-professional-expands-rightcycle-first-large-scale - Kimberly-Clark's January 2018 company release reports a cumulative 300-ton diversion since 2011 and lists eligible items and exclusions. This historical milestone is not current annual throughput or evidence that named consumer-tissue mill trim is accepted. - [8] U.S. EPA TRI 2024 Basic Data File, exact-parent extraction - https://data.epa.gov/efservice/downloads/tri/mv_tri_basic_download/2024_US/csv - Raw EPA 2024 Basic CSV, filtered by exact standard-parent-name equality and year. Six forms across five distinct TRI IDs sum to 657,962.71 lb of on-site releases; off-site recycling, energy recovery, treatment, and total-transfer fields each record 0 lb across these forms. These are listed-chemical TRI records, not a complete waste-flow inventory, ownership census, or proof of current operations. From the Material Transition company brief library: https://www.materialtransition.com/library/kimberly-clark