Sharjah24 – AFP: Choked by soaring energy and wood pulp costs, German toilet paper maker Hakle is turning to waste from coffee production to stay afloat and help the environment.
Just two years ago, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the firm profited from a stampede of consumers rushing to stock up on essentials.
But with the health crisis abating, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked skyrocketing energy costs, forcing Hakle to file for insolvency recently.
Huge quantities of coffee grounds are produced every year by the European food industry, and Hakle has found a way to transform the waste into material to make loo roll.
It is not the first time that the firm has taken an unusual approach to producing loo paper.
Two years ago, it used grass grown in the Rhineland to make toilet paper, said Jung, who runs the business with her husband.
- Roller-coaster ride -
The company has been on a roller-coaster ride in recent times.
After 2020, when it raked in close to 80 million euros ($80.2 million) in sales and made a profit of about 700,000 euros, it is now seeing its fortunes reverse as costs explode.
The price of gas rose up to 400 euros per megawatt hour, and up to 1,000 euros for electricity, a heavy blow for the firm's Duesseldorf factory, which consumes about 100 gigawatt hours a year.
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