Domtar Reduces Waste to Landfill 23%

Canada-based specialty paper manufacturer Domtar reduced the waste its pulp and paper mills sent to landfill by 23 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to its 2015 Sustainability Report. The company is now more than half way to its 2020 goal of decreasing waste to landfill by 40 percent against a 2013 baseline.

The paper company also increased its utilization of Forest Stewardship Council-certified fiber to 19.2 percent of total fiber use in 2014 from 16 percent in 2010, getting the company closer to achieving its 2020 goal of 20 percent total FSC-certified fiber use at its pulp and paper mills. Domtar sold its 5 millionth ton of FSC-certified uncoated paper — a first for the North American market — in 2014.

Total water use in Domtar’s pulp and paper mills decreased 3 percent, from 429 million cubic meters in 2013 to 416 million cubic meters in 2014, largely due to the Plymouth, North Carolina, mill’s water reuse and steam optimization projects. The company’s Kingsport, Tennessee, mill achieved its best water utilization performance per unit of production in 2014, establishing a new benchmark for Domtar’s manufacturing facilities.

Domtar reduced total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchased energy at its pulp and paper mills by nine percent since 2010. It reported a 48 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions and 8 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions since 2011 as a result of fuel conversions and energy conservation. Emissions from total particulate matter have gone down by 17 percent since 2012, mainly due to investments in control technology at the company’s Kamloops, British Columbia, mill and fuel conversions at several mills.

Domtar recently increased its goal to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchased energy 15 percent by 2020 from a 2010 baseline.