The Circularity Of Paper: Inside The Paper Mill BY KATHI ROWZIE
Quality & Consistency
We know the circular life cycle of North American paper products begins as wood from sustainably managed for-
ests where trees are purpose-grown, harvested and regrown in perpetu- ity. But once that wood reaches a pulp and paper mill, how does the manufacturing process contribute to circularity and minimize environ- mental impacts of paper products? Significant advances in technol- ogy, data management, process
Kathi Rowzie
engineering, predictive maintenance and reliability have made today’s pulp and paper mills more efficient than ever before, especially when it comes to the use of critical re- sources like water and energy. It’s a well-known fact that papermaking requires lots of both, but that’s really just the beginning of the story. The circular path of water in the papermaking process is really quite remarkable. The process requires large quanti- ties of H2O, but actually consumes very little. According to NCASI — the National Council for Air and Stream Improve- ment — water used in a typical U.S. paper mill is recycled 10 times or more. Then it’s cleaned to meet strict federal and state water quality standards, and around 88% of it is returned to its source. Only about 1% is retained in the paper products themselves, and the rest just evaporates back into the environment. On top of this, the American Forest and Paper Association reports that the U.S. paper industry has reduced its overall water use per ton of pro- duction by more than eight percent since 2005. Yes, paper manufacturing requires large amounts of energy, but renewable energy meets, on average, around 2/3 of the energy needs at U.S. mills. And around 58% of that energy is self-generated using renewable, car- bon-neutral biomass, mostly bark, small limbs and other leftovers recycled from the papermaking process. Nearly all of this energy is generated using high-efficiency com- bined heat and power systems — what’s often referred to as CHP technology. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that CHP technology can achieve efficiencies of over 80% by capturing and recycling heat that would otherwise be wasted and converting it to thermal ener- gy. This compares to 50% efficiency for traditional energy technologies like boilers. As a result this high level of bioenergy use, advances in technology and process improvements, U.S. paper mills reduced greenhouse gas emission by more than 24% be- tween 2005 and 2020, and the EPA reports that the indus- try contributes only six tenths of one percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Kathi Rowzie is President at Two Sides North America and CEO of Rowzie Group, Ltd. Visit twosidesna.org.
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18 June 26, 2023
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