Greenpeace tears into retail 'eco–villains'

Boots and Somerfield, two of the biggest names on the British high street, have been branded "eco-villains" for failing to ensure that their tissue and lavatory paper products are environmentally friendly.

The companies were ranked bottom of a Greenpeace table of retailers and manufacturers because they used little recycled paper or bought pulp from forests without safeguards on sustainability.

Boots, the country's largest chemist chain, stocks only one environmentally friendly tissue product despite promising in 1992 to source its timber and paper products from well-managed forests, according to Greenpeace, which described its behaviour as "completely inadequate". Somerfield, the sixth-largest supermarket chain, had a "terrible" record, said the pressure group.

The chain told Greenpeace it had no plans to start using forest-friendly fibre and was not available for comment yesterday. Boots said it was committed to responsible sourcing but acknowledged that it could improve the certification of its wood, paper and pulp.

Greenpeace passed its table, which ranks all companies A to F, to The Independent after two years of research into companies' policy and practice on all forms of paper products.

The household products giant Procter & Gamble, which is responsible for the Charmin, Bounty and Tempo brands, declined to supply any information to Greenpeace, earning it an F, the lowest rating.