From Kimberly-Clark Professional™: New Thrive™ Program Helps Businesses Keep Waste Out Of Landfills

Kimberly-Clark Professional™ has launched its Thrive™ sustainability service that helps businesses reduce waste, track lifecycle progress and make a measurable environmental impact.

“Core to the service is a first-of-its-kind program(2) that helps customers in North America upgrade their restrooms while diverting used qualifying dispensers(1) from landfills,” according to a press release. “Kimberly-Clark Professional set out to remove the barriers for customers who might have concerns about disposing of the old equipment they will no longer need.”

Through the Thrive Dispenser Service, Kimberly-Clark Professional team members will collect qualifying used plastic dispensers(1) directly at customer sites and prepare them for shipment. Once ready, customers simply send them to one of Kimberly-Clark Professional’s sustainability partner facilities for processing.

To further support waste diversion, customers can even leave dry, leftover paper products inside the dispensers. Once received, the dispensers are sorted, shredded and transformed into an alternative fuel source, a substitute for fossil fuel, used in the production of cement and building materials.

This streamlined process makes it easy for facilities to contribute to landfill diversion and sustainability goals without disrupting operations.

“Our customers are looking for practical, measurable ways to meet their sustainability goals,” Kimberly-Clark Professional President Susan Gambardella said. “Thrive offers a solution that’s easy to implement and makes a tangible, positive impact toward waste reduction.”

The Thrive service is available to commercial customers in the U.S. and Canada that replace 100 or more eligible dispensers at a facility. Kimberly-Clark Professional coordinates the installation of new Scott®, Kleenex®, or ICON™ dispensers to replace the old units. Thrive offers a fully traceable service to help businesses quantify, track and report landfill diversion metrics. Customers even receive an Environmental Impact Achievement Certificate to showcase their sustainability efforts to employees and guests.

Facility managers interested in learning more can contact their Kimberly-Clark Professional sales representative or visit kcprofessional.com/thrive.

(1) Qualified products are eligible for landfill diversion so long as after use they are non-hazardous as classified by federal, state and local regulations.

(2) Based on publicly available information as of August 2025.