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No. 34 December 2001 News for All Interested in |
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No. 34 December 2001 News for All Interested in |
Search this site Campaigns Publications Technical Pulp & Paper About Reach! Contact Us Links |
MillWatch table of contents
MillWatch No. 34 - December 2001
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MillWatch is sponsored by Reach for Unbleached! Canada to connect people and provide resources for those working on pulp and paper issues. If you have information, experience, or problems you want to share, this forum is meant to spread the word, but it needs your help. Write to us!
Twenty-one Canadian book publishers have committed to new purchasing policies shifting them to old growth free, recycled, chlorine free papers. Some of Canada's largest publishers are on the list, including McClelland & Stewart and Random House. Besides shifting away from ancient forest fibre, they've also committed to address reducing consumption, increasing recycled content and adopting preferential purchasing of totally-chlorine-free paper. (Most book paper comes from deciduous forests in the US.)
* Markets Initiative, October 2001
Great Northern Paper (GNP): In January, GNP, located in Maine, became the first pulp and paper manufacturer in North America to certify 5 paper product lines as Totally Chlorine Free (TCF). GNP is the first coated paper mill certified to meet the new Catalog Managers Association Resolution calling for TCF/PCF certification labelling requirements.
Seventh Generation: This leading brand of natural household products became the first consumer brand in North America to get one of its paper products certified~recycled paper towels. Seventh Generation's paper products are made from 100% recycled paper, without the use of chlorine.
Perkins Papers: Perkins became the first tissue product manufacturer in North America to certify their privately labelled white de-inked pulp bathroom tissues, towels and napkins, as well as brown pulp towels and napkins. Perkins uses one-third the amount of water as comparable mills in their production process, and 100% post-consumer fibre in their tissues and towels.
Products certified to be TCF/PCF are made using chlorine-free processes, use tree fibre that comes from responsibly managed forestry, not old growth forest; the mill has no current or pending environmental permit violations, and complies with stringent formula and definitions for post-consumer content.
* Chlorine Free Products Association, 2001, www.chlorinefreeproducts.org
The US's largest network of waste reduction activists has joined Forest Ethics in challenging Staples, the nation's largest office supply chain, to walk the talk, and commit to achieving 50% post-consumer content for all paper products within two years, and stop seeking public relations alternatives to action. They backed up the challenge with over 200 demonstrations recently held at Staples stores, citizen's. Staples attempt to buy greenwashing cover by co-sponsoring the 5th America Recycles Day on November 15 -- instead of taking real action -- won't wash with consumers,0/00 said GRRN executive director, Bill Sheehan. According to Staples executives on November of 2000, 97% of the copy paper Staples sells comes from virgin wood with only 3% from recycled resources. In response to the consumer campaign launched a year ago, Staples in the US recently introduced two new lines of recycled paper containing 10% and 50% post-consumer recycled fibre.
* GrassRoots Recycling Network www.grrn.org, November 2001; Info on The Stop Staples Campaign is at http://www.stopstaples.net
NorskeCanada is permanently closing its kraft mill at Powell River, built in 1967 by MacMillan Bloedel. The company says it is strengthening the economic future of its other two pulp mills (Crofton and Elk Falls) by removing the least viable operation. Closing the mill is expected to save the company $15 - $25 million next year. The closure includes the mill's groundwood and woodroom operations, and eliminates about 280 jobs from a work force of over 900. The company plans to spend $30 million to help employees retire or relocate, and will contribute $3 million over three years in support of economic development initiatives in Powell River.
In November the company, one of the largest newsprint makers in the world, also announced that it was "curtailing production0/00 to reduce inventory by 136,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2002. Paper machines at Port Alberni, Elk Falls and Crofton are scheduled for shutdown in the first quarter. The 2002 closures come on top of accumulated total paper curtailment for 2001 of 166,000 tonnes, including 112,000 tonnes of newsprint and 131,000 tonnes of pulp.
* NorskeCanada, October 2001
Skeena Cellulose may find another owner after all. Swallowing a $400-million loss, the BC government is ready to sell for virtually nothing, while giving the buyer a package of concessions that could include changes to environmental regulations. The potential buyer is Swiss-based Mercer International. That assurance led a BC Supreme Court judge to extend Skeena's court-granted creditor protection until Feb. 15, 2002. The application was opposed by the TD Bank, owner of 27 per cent of Skeena and one of the principal creditors. The BC government owns the rest of the northwestern pulp and lumber producer, plus all the debt. The actual price Mercer will pay equals Skeena's dwindling working capital which could be less than $6 million by February. Mercer will take over about $3.5 million worth of inventory in the deal, as well the company's Prince Rupert pulp mill and three sawmills.
* Vancouver Sun, November 2001
In one of the largest employee buyouts in US corporate history, employees of Appleton Papers purchased all the stock of the manufacturer of specialty coated paper products from its European parent. The transaction is valued at $810 million. This buyout is different. Employees provided over $100 million in equity through their retirement plan funds, which means the corporate income can be tax-sheltered. The deal debuts an innovative buyout model that promises to substantially outperform traditional leveraged buyout structures. Originators of this system say wage earners now have an opportunity to be the buyers of choice and share in the wealth they create from successful company operations. For the first time, employees and capital market sources can truly partner on an equal basis to acquire companies and provide superior investment return results for all participants.0/00
* PR Newswire, November 2001
Reduce your cholesterol with a tall oil extract. Tall oil is a waste product skimmed off wood chips as they are cooked into pulp. When northern BC trees are pulped, a phytosterol can be extracted from the tall oil. It has a similar molecular structure to the cholesterol which causes hardening of the arteries, and has been shown to block absorption of that cholesterol. Vancouver-based Forbes MediTech is pioneering its use as a health food additive, starting with American soya drinks and Australian granola bars.
* Vancouver Sun, January 2001