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Background
The EPA Innovation Strategy states that “environmental programs should address a broader range of
issues than they typically do today. The goal should be greater environmental responsibility and
natural resource stewardship across all of society, along with successful integration of
environmental, economic, and social objectives.” It also states that new approaches need to
“emphasize results more than the means to achieve them, using regulatory and non-regulatory tools
and working in partnership with others. In such instances, public accountability should be provided
through use of meaningful performance tools”.
The Department of Ecology received an innovation grant from EPA to explore one such performance
measurement tool- called the industrial footprint.
What is a footprint?
We are defining an industrial footprint as the impact of a major manufacturing facility on the
environment and the community in which it’s located. It is measured in sustainability terms
(environmental, economic and social impacts), and includes many environmental aspects that Ecology
and EPA do not directly regulate, such as greenhouse gasses or resource use. Footprint measurement
puts a spotlight on the need for companies to pursue opportunities for saving energy, water,
materials and money, (i.e. those areas where compliance alone is not enough). It adds rigor to
the use of environmental management systems already in place. We hope to demonstrate that
permitting, other regulatory work, and beyond compliance activities can be tied more directly to
real environmental improvement.
Purpose
The purpose of the Industrial Footprint Project is to develop a holistic measure of facility
performance and to evaluate whether or not this measurement is useful for:
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Boise Inc., headquartered in Boise, Idaho, operates a kraft pulp and paper mill on the
east bank of the Columbia River, approximately 15 miles southeast of Pasco, Washington and
approximately 2 miles north of Wallula, Washington. Employing about 400 people, the Boise
Wallula Mill produces about 1600 tons each day of bleached
paper, fine, coated paper and corrugating medium. A new line of high-quality security papers for
general office and other uses is also being developed.
Boise Wallula has been certified as meeting ISO 14001 environmental standards. Established by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO 14001 is recognized as the leading standard for environmental management systems (EMS). Certification indicates that Wallula’s EMS complies with ISO 14001 standards and demonstrates the company’s commitment to high standards of environmental stewardship and to continuously improving its environmental activities. Boise Wallula is also participating in EPA’s National Environmental Performance Track program. To qualify for the Performance Track program, a facility must demonstrate its commitment to sustained environmental compliance, sound environmental management, continuous improvement, pollution prevention, and public outreach. |
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Grays Harbor Paper, L.P. is a non-integrated paper mill located in Hoquiam, Washington. The
mill was built in 1929 and started operating as Grays Harbor Pulp and Paper Company. In
1937 three Olympic peninsula mills (Port Angeles, Shelton, and Grays Harbor) combined to form
Rayonier, Inc. In 1962, Rayonier entered into a joint partnership with Hammermill Paper to
create Grays Harbor Paper. The new company operated the paper machines, while Rayonier
continued operating the pulp mill portion of the facility. International Telephone and
Telegraph (ITT) acquired Rayonier in 1968 and International Paper (IP) purchased Hammermill
in 1986. The facility was closed in November 1992. The pulp mill, chemical product lines,
and vanillin extraction facilities were demolished. In December of 1993, a group of local
investors restarted the remaining paper mill portion of the plant as Grays Harbor Paper, L.P.
producing fine papers from purchased bleached kraft wood pulp.
The mill employs about 220 people, and currently manufactures uncoated paper, producing regular white writing paper and post consumer waste/process chlorine free writing paper. The post consumer waste comprises Grays Harbor 40 and Grays Harbor 100. The Grays Harbor 40 is 40% post consumer process chlorine free, while Grays Harbor 100 is 100% post consumer process chlorine free. Grays Harbor Paper uses wood waste in their boilers as biomass fuel to manufacture steam and make electricity. This biomass process manufactures 100% renewable Green-e Certified energy that is used to manufacture the Harbor 100, with the remaining power being sold back into the power grid. To ensure Harbor 100 meets the highest recycling standards the process is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Current estimate of mill production is 425 tons each day of post consumer waste and process chlorine free paper. At present, they are producing about 80 ton each day Grays Harbor 40 and 11.5 tons each day of Grays Harbor 100. |
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Simpson Tacoma Kraft Company is an integrated pulp and paper manufacturing mill located on the
Commencement Bay waterfront in Tacoma, Washington. It directly provides about 400 family-wage
jobs and produces upwards of 1300 tons of bleached and unbleached packaging-grade paper
and unbleached kraft pulp each day. About one-third of the fiber used comes from recycling old corrugated
containers. The mill is best known for producing white top linerboard which is used as the clean,
highly printable outer surface of corrugated boxes.
Simpson Tacoma Kraft has supported efforts aimed at finding new and better approaches to improve environmental performance through its involvement in a number of innovative programs. The Company participated in EPA’s National Environmental Performance Track program from 2001 through 2007. To qualify for the Performance Track program, a facility must demonstrate its commitment to sustained environmental compliance, sound environmental management, continuous improvement, pollution prevention and public outreach. Simpson Tacoma Kraft also participated in EPA’s Environmental Leadership Program. |
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Nippon Paper Industries USA (NPI USA) is a producer of telephone directory paper, shipping to customers in
North America and Australia. The mill’s pulping systems consist of refined mechanical pulp and
recycled paper. Formerly Daishowa America Co., Ltd, the mill was originally built in 1920 at the
base of Ediz Hook on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and is located in Port Angeles, Washington. A
deinking facility was constructed in 1992 and annually processes upwards of 80,000 tons of recycled
paper. It is one of the few deinking facilities in North America that can recycle old telephone
directories.
The mill employs 244 employees and produces about 160,000 tons of telephone directory paper a year. Approximately sixty percent of the pulp used is from mechanically refined fiber. The other approximate forty percent is from the deinking pulping system used to recycle residential wastepaper and old telephone books. Nippon Paper has been certified as meeting ISO 14001 environmental standards. Established by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO 14001 is recognized as a leading standard for EMSs. Certification indicates that NPI USA’s EMS complies with ISO 14001 standards and demonstrates the company’s commitment to high standards of environmental stewardship and to continuously improving its environmental activities. |
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Port Townsend Paper Company (PTPC) is an integrated pulp and paper mill that
has operated in the Glen Cove area of Port Townsend since 1927. PTPC provides 315 full-time
family-wage jobs and produces about 950 tons of unbleached pulp and paper each day. The mill
recycles old corrugated containers (OCC) and combines the recycled fiber with fiber from
residual wood to produce high-quality unbleached kraft paper, pulp, linerboard, and
packaging. About one-third of the fiber used in PTPC products comes from recycling OCC.
Seventy-eight percent of the energy produced by PTPC's onsite power plant comes from renewable biomass fuel sources. PTPC also supports the State's efforts to recycle used oil by providing a market for over 12 million gallons of recycled oil each year. |
Contact Information
Marc Crooks
Dept of Ecology
Environmental Engineer
Phone (360) 407-6934
Fax (360) 407-6102
mcro461@ecy.wa.gov
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
