SP Newsprint Co.
and the Environment

SP Newsprint Co. is committed to operating in an environmentally sound manner. The level of commitment is evidenced in the following components of our Strategic Plan and operating policies:

Statement of Purpose:

We RECYCLE ! !

We Provide Paper for the Economical Distribution of Information
While Conserving Our Natural Resources.

One of our Core Values and Beliefs:

We Believe in Conserving Natural Resources by Recycling
and Operating in an Environmentally Sound Manner.

Toxic Substance Use & Hazardous Waste Generation Reduction Plan
Policy Statement for the Newberg Mill:

At SP Newsprint Co. protecting the environment is a high priority. We are pledged to eliminate or reduce the use of toxic substances and the generation of hazardous wastes, wherever technically and economically practicable and consistent with sound environmental management.

When waste cannot be avoided, we are committed to recycling, treatment and disposal in ways that minimize undesirable effects on air, water, and land.

We meet these commitments in our manufacturing processes that conserve natural resources by recycling and through the use of state-of-the-art pollution controls.

AWARDS

Over the years, we have been honored with several environmental awards for operating practices. The following are examples of these awards:

Air Protection Achievement Award

"For outstanding contributions to Georgia's environment to the benefit of the state, its citizens and the business community."

Business Council of Georgia and Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Water Pollution Control Plant Operation Award

"Outstanding operation of an industrial water pollution control facility."

Georgia Water & Pollution Control Association

Power Plant Award

"For demonstrating the simultaneous combustion of coal and deink sludge in a fluidized-bed boiler and for applying gas turbine-based cogeneration in the pulp and paper industry, thereby reflecting industry's commitment toward meeting the nation's energy conservation and environmental goals."

Power Magazine

Environmental and Energy Achievement Award
Outstanding Achievement in Water Quality Management

"For demonstrating cooperation with the City of Dublin to use tertiary-treated municipal waste water as process water for paper manufacturing."

American Forest & Paper Association - 2000

FACTS ABOUT WHAT WE DO

Recycling

Recycle over 1,000,000 tons per year of old newspapers

We recycle over one million tons of old newspapers each year as the fiber to produce newsprint used at many of the major newspaper publishers in the United States. The Dublin mill consumes over 750,000 tons each year in making 100% recycled newsprint.

Utilize 225,000 tons/year of chips from sawmill residual wood

The Newberg mill manufactures 50% recycled newsprint from 260,000 tons of old newspapers and 225,000 tons of chips from sawmill residual each year.

Recycle old corrugated boxes, plastic, cans, glass, and other paper grades sawmill residual wood

Our subsidiary, SP Recycling Corp., collects the old newspapers for use at our mills. Annually, we also receive 85,000 tons of old corrugated boxes, 62,000 tons of other paper grades, 3200 tons of plastic, 8,600 tons of glass, and 2,200 tons of cans for recycling by other companies.

Community Involvement

Dublin Recycling

The Dublin mill has a newspaper recycling bin where area residents bring old newspapers for recycling. These individuals are paid for the volume that they deliver.

Office waste paper generated at the Dublin mill is baled and sold to other paper mills for recycling into fresh paper.

Aluminum cans collected at the mill are given to the City of Dublin Fire Department. They sell the cans and donate the money to the Shriners for burn victim treatment.

Newberg Recycling

Several years ago a few employees at the Newberg mill formed a group to see what could be done regarding the waste materials inside the mill. Though several thousand tons of newspapers & magazines were already recycled into newsprint each year, the employees’ concern went beyond the mill’s products to the waste that remained. A Recycle Committee was formed. Now 15 members strong, the committee oversees the collection and recycling of many different materials and has managed to reduce the volume of waste produced at the mill by 65%. Recyclables that are unique to the mill, such as felts and wires, are recycled, as are cardboard, newspaper and office waste.

The program was extended to the community. A recycling depot was built just outside the Newberg mill’s main gate (Recycle Gulch) where the public can drop off cans, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, magazines, plastic milk jugs and glass.

The mill further extended its public recycling program to include waste wood, such as yard debris, construction wood and pallets. The mill grinds the wood and uses it to fuel its boilers. This program extends far beyond Yamhill County with debris coming in from as far away as Vancouver, Washington.

After noting that on many occasions, old bikes were left at Recycle Gulch, mill retirees decided to donate two to three days a week to refurbish the bikes and give them to school children in need. This program has gone far beyond the Newberg schools to as far away as North Carolina flood victims and even farther beyond to an orphanage in Russia.

As the recycling program has grown, so has the income from the sale of these recyclables. The employees formed a scholarship committee to disperse the money; to date, with the help of the State of Oregon, the committee has awarded 75 college scholarships totaling $190,500 to children of mill employees. In the spirit of sharing the wealth, the program has been expanded to include local high school students not related to mill employees; so far 22 of these scholarships have been awarded totaling $28,000.

Along with increased public awareness to the benefits of this program, the culture inside the mill has dramatically changed - where once something was tossed into the garbage with little thought, now employees will go out of their way to put it into the recycle bin.

Water

Treat 24.5 million gallons per day of water for manufacturing use.

Our two mills use 26.5 million gallons per day of water for the manufacturing process. All of this water is surface water; no groundwater is withdrawn from underground aquifers for the papermaking process. Within both mills, the process water is recycled an average of over six (6) times before it is released to our effluent treatment plants.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has listed salmon and steelhead fish in the Willamette River under the Endangered Species Act. The Newberg mill, located on the Willamette River, is working with the NMFS to certify the river water intake system meets NMFS intake criteria to reduce the risk of harming fish.

Utilize nearly 100% of the City of Dublin treated municipal sewage discharge for process use.

The Dublin mill receives 2.0 million gallons of water per day from the City of Dublin municipal sewage treatment plant after tertiary treatment and uses it as process water. This water has reduced the withdrawal from the Oconee River by 2.0 million gallons per day and reduced the City of Dublin’s treated municipal discharge to nearly zero.

Treat 26 million gallons per day of mill effluent and return this water to the rivers from where it was withdrawn.

Although we use large amounts of water, we do not consume it.   Essentially, the same amount of water that is withdrawn from the rivers is returned after treatment. This flow includes the water received from the City of Dublin.

Our treatment plants remove suspended and dissolved solids, aerate the water, and cool it before it is returned to the rivers. Our effluent discharge is consistently below the strict federal and state limits for BOD₅ (5-day biological oxygen demand) and TSS (total suspended solids).

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) is in the process of setting Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) for the Willamette River. The Newberg mill worked with the City of Newberg and the United States Geological Survey to install a river gauge at Newberg. This gauge is supplying ODEQ with information needed to set the TMDL.

The Oconee River in Dublin is classified as "fishable and swimable" by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Where possible, uncontaminated stormwater is kept separate from the Dublin mill effluent and returns to the river by natural waterways. Contaminated stormwater at both mills is collected and treated before release to the local surface waterways.

Fuels

We Burn .....

530 tons per day of organic sludge.

80 tons per day of scrap tires.

700 tons per day of residual material.

Modern technology is used for burning our effluent treatment sludge, old tire chips and fuel generated from residual wood, bark, tree limbs and unusable recycled paper.

At Newberg, a collection center is open for citizens to bring residual material for disposal as fuel.

The old tire chips represent 25% of the used tires collected in Georgia and 3% of those collected in Oregon each year. The BTUs (heat) from burning this material produces steam and electricity for pulping and papermaking.

These operations save fossil fuel and valuable landfill space by providing environmentally safe disposal of these waste products.

Land-apply 20 tons per day of effluent treatment sludge.

In Dublin, an average of 20 tons per day of effluent treatment plant sludge is land applied as a soil amendment. This material is building up the organic content and water holding capacity of very sandy soil at a 500+ acre site near the mill.

Utilize 200 tons per day of boiler ash to recover an abandoned sludge pond.

The Dublin boiler ash is being mixed with sludge in an abandoned sludge pond to make a solid material and recover the use of this 70acre site.

Air

Remove 99% of particulate matter in the flue gas from our boilers.

Our boilers are equipped with electrostatic precipitators or wet scrubbers to remove particulate matter from the flue gas leaving our stacks. This equipment operates consistently at 99% efficiency.

Control Nitrous Oxides and Sulfur Dioxide well below air quality limits.

Sulfur Dioxide emissions are controlled by burning low sulfur fuels and also by adding limestone in our largest boiler in Dublin.

Nitrous Oxides are controlled by maintaining low burning temperatures in the boilers and by steam injection in the gas turbine.

All of these operations keep SP Newsprint air emissions at or below 33% of the limits set by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and around 50% of the limits set by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Recover 1 billion BTUs/day of heat for process use.

A steam turbine condenser heat recovery system that heats process water in the Dublin mill reduces coal consumption by 40 tons per day while lowering sulfur dioxide and particulate emissions.