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Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

A screenshot from Georgia-Pacific’s, “How We Make Tissue,” video shows a giant roll of tissue, called a parent roll, being carried around by a truck the company refers to as an, “Elephant.” Per the video, the parent roll is made up of more than a lifetime supply of toilet tissue for a whole family. The large roll then gets converted into logs, which are then cut into the rolls found at the store. The video, found on YouTube, gives a snapshot of what the Plattsburgh-based Georgia Pacific plant, which produces Quilted Northern toilet paper, might look like on the inside.

Single rolls of toilet paper are carried along a conveyor belt in a screenshot from Georgia-Pacific’s, “How We Make Tissue,” video. The City of Plattsburgh-based facility produces Quilted Northern toilet paper and the video gives a look at that process. This is one of the final steps, as the paper gets prepped for distribution.

A screenshot from Georgia-Pacific’s, “How We Make Tissue,” video shows a giant roll of tissue, called a parent roll, being carried around by a truck the company refers to as an, “Elephant.” Per the video, the parent roll is made up of more than a lifetime supply of toilet tissue for a whole family. The large roll then gets converted into logs, which are then cut into the rolls found at the store. The video, found on YouTube, gives a snapshot of what the Plattsburgh-based Georgia Pacific plant, which produces Quilted Northern toilet paper, might look like on the inside.

Single rolls of toilet paper are carried along a conveyor belt in a screenshot from Georgia-Pacific’s, “How We Make Tissue,” video. The City of Plattsburgh-based facility produces Quilted Northern toilet paper and the video gives a look at that process. This is one of the final steps, as the paper gets prepped for distribution.

PLATTSBURGH — Amidst a global pandemic, it has been a big year for toilet paper, which was welcomed news by the Georgia-Pacific operation here. 

The 1 million-square-foot paper mill on Margaret Street in the City of Plattsburgh was a 24/7 operation before its product, and others like it, started flying off of shelves earlier this year. 

"It isn't like we could find more hours to operate," Kelly Ferguson, the senior director of public affairs and communications, told the Press-Republican. "However, we completed an investment at the mill in late 2019 that increased the mill's ability to produce more than 30 percent more bath tissue.

"That was excellent timing for the mill to be able to meet the increased demand that came along with the pandemic." 

While Ferguson couldn't give more recent production numbers, about a year ago, a Plattsburgh Mill official had said it produced 15,000 cases of the bath tissue daily.

Georgia-Pacific started at the Plattsburgh site after purchasing the mill in 1963. 

At the time, Ferguson said it manufactured both bath tissue and napkins for quick service restaurants. 

Today, it was solely focused on producing Quilted Northern Ultra Plush bath tissue.

Georgia-Pacific has a video on its website titled, "How We Make Tissue." 

In 60 seconds, the company takes viewers through the process, showing how wood becomes bath tissue. 

The process starts by creating pulp, which gets bleached and later processed into a sheet using a paper machine that is larger than a football field. The sheet gets rolled and further processed, eventually becoming large logs of bath tissue; those are then sliced into the rolls seen at stores around the country.

"The Plattsburgh mill has the ability to ship directly to some retail store customers locally in the northeast, but much of it is sent to distribution centers across the U.S.," Ferguson said.

"So, you can likely find (Plattsburgh-made) tissue from northern Maine to southern California."

Even before Georgia-Pacific, the mill had a history in paper products. 

Ferguson believed the first paper mill was built there about four decades earlier, in 1920, by the Saranac Pulp and Paper Company. 

"There were a series of name changes and different owners through the years," he said. "Those different companies apparently made a wide range of products, including molded pulp plates and egg cartons, toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, wax paper and pie plates."

In 1955, Vanity Fair Paper Mills bought the papermaking part of the mill and focused mainly on bath tissue, he said, adding that Georgia-Pacific purchased it from them less than 10 years later. 

"It was one of Georgia-Pacific’s first tissue mills."

The mill now has about 85 employees.

Though workforce size was not impacted by the novel coronavirus, Ferguson said the mill had added safety precautions. 

"I think most people would say that there’s been nothing normal about 2020," Ferguson said. "As a mill and as a company, we’ve never experienced the interest and demand for our bath tissue as we have seen since the pandemic began.

"We make an essential product, and our employees are essential workers. We are proud of all the work they do every day to keep product on the store shelves." 

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