EssityEdit
Essity AB (publ) is a global hygiene and health company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a broad footprint in consumer and professional markets. Born in 2017 as a spin-off from Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, Essity inherited a long history in paper, tissue, and personal care while pursuing a distinct focus on consumer brands and professional hygiene solutions. The company is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and, in its corporate structure, retains a strong link to its parent organization, with SCA remaining a major shareholder. Through its operations, Essity serves households, healthcare facilities, hospitality venues, and large-scale enterprises, delivering products that range from everyday consumer tissue to specialized incontinence and workplace hygiene systems. Its global portfolio includes brands such as Tena, Libero, Zewa, and Tork, underscoring a diversified approach to both consumer demand and professional needs.
Essity’s business model centers on scale, efficiency, and a portfolio of trusted brands that are widely distributed across multiple regions. The company markets its consumer products under recognizable names used in households around the world, while its professional division supplies workplaces, hospitals, and institutions with hygiene systems, dispensers, and services designed to improve cleanliness and safety. The dual focus on consumer goods and professional hygiene positions Essity as a key player in the structural market for daily necessities and facility management, with a steady emphasis on product quality, supply-chain reliability, and customer service.
History
Essity traces its roots to the forestry and paper legacy of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, but was reorganized in 2017 to concentrate on consumer goods and professional hygiene. The spin-off unlocked a dedicated platform for branded consumer products and workplace hygiene solutions, separating it from SCA’s broader wood, packaging, and forestry activities. Since its formation, Essity has pursued international expansion and brand-building, leveraging a portfolio of globally recognized names and a distribution network that reaches both consumer households and business clients. The company’s status as a public company on Nasdaq Stockholm reflects a governance model aimed at long-term value creation for shareholders and stakeholders alike.
In the years since the spin-off, Essity has continued to invest in its core brands and in production capabilities, while expanding its reach through partnerships and channel development. Its governance and capital structure are designed to support scale, reliability, and innovation in the hygiene and health sectors. For readers tracing corporate lineage, Essity remains closely linked to its origins in SCA and to the broader timber and packaging industries, with Tork and other brands serving as enduring bridges between consumer needs and professional applications.
Operations and branding
Essity’s operations are organized around two main pillars: consumer goods for households and professional hygiene solutions for institutions and workplaces. The consumer segment includes a broad range of tissue and personal-care products sold under well-known brands, while the professional segment focuses on hygiene systems, dispensers, and related services used in offices, hospitals, industrial facilities, and other settings.
- Consumer brands include Zewa, Tempo, and Plenty in various markets, along with flagship incontinence and baby-care offerings under Tena and Libero. These brands are deployed across retail channels and e-commerce in many countries, reflecting a strategy centered on recognizable names and high-quality products.
- The professional hygiene portfolio is anchored by Tork, a line of dispensers, paper products, and related services designed to optimize facility cleanliness and efficiency in workplaces, healthcare sites, and sensitive environments. This segment is integral to Essity’s positioning as a partner for enterprise-grade hygiene and facility management.
Beyond brands, Essity emphasizes sustainability and responsible sourcing as a core part of its identity. The company highlights wood-fiber sourcing from certified forests, investments in packaging optimization, and efforts to increase recycling and reduce waste across its product life cycles. Certification schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification are cited in its supply-chain governance, signaling a commitment to responsible forestry and material sourcing. The company also pursues energy efficiency and lower emissions in its manufacturing footprint, aligning with broader industry moves toward more sustainable operations.
For readers exploring related topics, Essity’s two main business lines intersect with broader industries and standards, including Healthcare, Packaging, and Sustainability practices. The company operates within competitive markets that include other major consumer goods and hygiene players, with ongoing discussions around cost efficiency, product safety, and regulatory compliance shaping its commercial strategies.
Brand portfolio and market stance
- Consumer tissue and personal care: products that are staples in households, such as toilet paper, facial tissues, and paper towels, produced under established brands and distributed through mass-market channels.
- Baby and incontinence care: wrapped into brands like Libero and Tena, which address sensitive consumer needs with a focus on safety, comfort, and reliability.
- Professional hygiene: Tork provides dispensing systems, hygiene products, and related services for offices, healthcare facilities, and other organizations, reflecting Essity’s emphasis on efficiency and hygiene standards in professional settings.
In the marketplace, Essity competes with other global players in the hygiene and consumer care space, including Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble. The company positions itself as a provider of high-quality, reliable products that support everyday living and institutional hygiene, while pursuing cost-effective manufacturing and supply-chain discipline that appeals to businesses and consumers alike.
Sustainability and governance
Essity frames its activities within a broad sustainability agenda that covers responsible sourcing, climate stewardship, circular packaging, and product safety. The company emphasizes transparency in reporting and a commitment to reducing its environmental footprint through measurable targets and continuous improvement. Certification programs for wood fiber and responsible sourcing are highlighted as mechanisms to ensure that raw materials come from responsibly managed sources.
From a governance perspective, Essity operates under a Swedish legal framework appropriate for a public company and maintains relationships with its large shareholder base, including Svenska_Cellulosa_Aktiebolaget as a significant stakeholder. The governance structure is designed to align management decisions with the long-term interests of shareholders and other stakeholders, including employees, customers, and communities affected by its operations.
Controversies and debates surrounding Essity largely revolve around broader debates on disposable hygiene products, environmental impact, and supply-chain responsibility. Critics in some quarters argue that large-scale tissue and packaging use can contribute to deforestation pressure and plastic waste. Proponents counter that modern tissue production has become increasingly resource-efficient and that responsible sourcing, recycling, and packaging innovations mitigate environmental concerns. Essity’s response emphasizes certification, sustainable forestry practices, and ongoing product- and process-innovation to reduce environmental impact while preserving the hygiene and safety benefits its products provide in everyday life and institutional settings. In the policy arena, supporters of the company’s approach argue that private-sector leadership, coupled with clear standards and consumer choice, is a practical path to progress, while critics often call for stronger mandates and stricter regulation—voice that is common in debates about environmental policy and corporate responsibility.