Locally Grown Locally Served

Oct 10, 2019 10:25 AM ET

Our mill in Windsor, Quebec, serves a global export market. Customers appreciate the sustainability of the Windsor operation and the local forests that support it.

While we have always used locally grown wood to make paper, there are some important benefits from shortening the distance we haul from the forest to the mill.

With 50,000 trucks hauling wood annually, and an average haul distance to the mill of 120 miles, road safety, truck noise, greenhouse gas emissions, and labor availability are some of the issues we manage every day along with controlling freight costs. 

This is why our mill management has been engaging with 14 regional forestry partners to promote sustainable forest management practices to small landowners, and to train loggers on har vesting methods that increase productivity and quality. Three years into this initiative, the fiber supply from forests located close to the mill has increased by 30 percent.

And the Windsor Mill is not stopping there. A woodyard modernization currently underway will improve productivity and chip quality, while reducing fiber loss and processing costs. As fiber yield from each unit of wood brought to the mill is increased, the number of wood deliveries required for each product will continue to decline. 

Through innovation, best practices and collaboration with regional partners, the Windsor Mill is building a better future by optimizing its fiber supply and reducing its environmental footprint.

Read the 2019 Domtar Sustainability Report