TL;DR. Paper napkins look cheaper — until you look at the 5-year numbers. An average 100-guest-a-day restaurant saves by switching to textile napkins
4000–7000 €, cuts waste 99% and its CO2 footprint
~75%. The calculator below shows your numbers.
Paper vs textile napkins: cost, waste, CO2
Enter your restaurant's key numbers and see right away how much you'd save in 1 / 5 years by switching from paper to textile napkins.
Your restaurant's key numbers
📄 Paper napkin
- Annual quantity
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- Annual cost
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- 5-year cost
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- 5-year waste
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- 5-year CO2
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🧺 Textile napkin
- Napkins needed
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- Initial investment
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- 5-year washing cost
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- 5-year total cost
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- 5-year CO2
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💰 Your savings
- 5-year money saved
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- Less waste
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- Less CO2 emissions
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- Payback time (break-even)
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Calculator assumptions (to understand the numbers)
- Textile napkin lifespan: 250 wash cycles (quality cotton or cotton-polyester blend)
- Required textile napkin stock: 3× the daily need (in use + in the wash + in reserve)
- Paper CO2: 6 g per napkin (production + transport, IFEU 2022 data)
- Textile CO2: 50 g production + 3 g per wash cycle (Quantis 2018, ProCarton)
- Paper weight: 2.5 g / pc (a standard 2-ply napkin)
- Period: 5 years (a textile napkin's typical life cycle)
- Price basis: Estonian market average 2026, excluding VAT
You can adjust the numbers to your restaurant's context — the calculator recalculates instantly.
When to choose textile and when paper?
Choose textile napkins if...
- The restaurant serves at least 50 guests a day
- There's a quiet time in the morning or evening to organise the washing
- Your guests care more about the experience than a few cents — a premium feel matters
- Your brand story includes caring for nature / a smaller-footprint concept
Paper is (still) the better choice if...
- A take-away or street food format (napkins often leave and don't come back)
- Under 30 guests a day — the payback time on the initial investment gets long
- No laundry partner and no room to organise one
A hybrid solution
Many of Estonia's top restaurants use premium textile for evening à la carte service and paper for breakfast + lunch. This gives the best washing rotation and cost efficiency.