Port Townsend Paper earns sustainability honor

The Olympia, Washington-based Northwest Pulp & Paper Association (NWPPA) has presented its 2016 Environmental Excellence Award to Port Townsend Paper of Port Townsend, Washington.

 

In addition to consuming considerable amounts of recovered fiber, the Port Townsend Paper mill has, over the past 10 years, reduced greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels by nearly 60 percent, according to the company.

 

“Three hundred employees of Port Townsend Paper accomplished this,” says Colin Fernie, president of Port Townsend Paper and Crown Packaging. “We appreciate the recognition and are committed to continued environmental stewardship.”

 

Steve Klinger, Crown Paper Group CEO, adds, “When Crown Paper acquired the mill in 2015, we said we would invest to transform it into a high performing business. This award is a milestone in that transformation, and there are more milestones to come. We are optimizing our Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) Standard boiler. We are accelerating settlement pond remediation. We are converting to compressed natural gas. Port Townsend Paper is on an upward trend.”

 

Association of Washington Business President Kris Johnson says the mill “like so many Washington employers is making great progress in reducing its carbon footprint. Great leadership!”

 

Port Townsend Paper produces kraft pulp, paper, containerboard and specialty products by blending virgin and recycled fibers at its mill in Port Townsend. On its website, the company says, “All of our paper grades are manufactured with OCC (old corrugated containers), the majority of which is postconsumer waste.”

 

The company adds, “Port Townsend Paper recycles the equivalent of one-third of Washington’s collection of recycled cardboard each year” and that its own onsite recycling facility “provides the mill with more than 300 tons of recycled pulp daily.”

 

Formed in 1956, the NWPPA represents 13 member companies and 16 paper mills in Washington, Oregon and Idaho on legislative and regulatory issues with special emphasis on environmental and energy policy, according to the group.