By David Peterson, Lee Enterprises Consulting
Introduction
When an industry faces significant challenges, which all industries will at some time, quite often the responses not only influence short-term achievements but may also influence the trajectory of the industry, and quite possibly the very survival of the industry. The pulp and paper industry is no stranger to significant challenges.
Environment Issues
In the mid-80s, the pulp and paper industry experienced serious technical and environmental challenges that required the rapid development of technical solutions for its very existence. Concerns about chlorinated organics from Viet Nam-era Agent Orange, the Times Beach soil contamination issue, and other headline events, caused the EPA and state water quality agencies to be on heightened awareness for chlorinated organic compounds. In 1983, environmental agency staff were developing baseline data in ‘pristine’ areas, when fish samples collected downstream of pulp mills showed elevated levels of chlorinated organic substances. The results of this routine sampling sounded a major alarm to the industry.
Unbeknownst to the industry, the use of elemental chlorine as a pulp-bleaching agent caused the unintentional formation of dioxins in bleach plant effluents from chemical pulp mills, namely kraft ‘sulfate’ and sulfite[1]. When elemental chlorine reacts with lignin in chemical pulps to remove color-causing compounds, dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or TCDD) and tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran), commonly known as absorbable organic halides (AOX), are formed. This development affected bleached chemical pulp mills across the nation and led to significant investment to reduce the formation of TCDD/TCDF and decrease their presence in bleach plant effluent streams. Many high-profile industry-led teams of experts and major research programs were formed to focus solely on this issue.
To further complicate the industries’ troubles, concerns were mounting over the harvesting of old-growth timber linked to habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl, a bird protected under the Endangered Species Act. This controversy threatened to close many thousands of acres of timberland in the Pacific Northwest to logging, which would have a major effect on the forest products industry. Undoubtedly, this was a very challenging time in the pulp and paper industry.
Messaging Paradigm Shift Improves Public Image
During these tumultuous times, the pulp and paper industry wisely questioned its messaging to the public. Analysis by public relations experts suggested the industry shift from a products and process-oriented message to a narrative more focused on sustainable forestry practices and environmental benefits. These experts also advised the industry should ‘tone down’ the emphasis previously placed on harvesting and tree processing operations. Since the industry was planting more trees than it harvested, in fact, it planted two trees for every tree harvested during that time[2], the industry had a positive story.
The industry certainly knew that planting trees was essential for long-term sustainability, but in typical technologist form, the industry took this information for granted and assumed the public already knew these things—however, in reality, the public was woefully unaware. This was the heart of the public image gap. The industry began to talk more about its sustainable forestry practices, tree nurseries, and planting and nurturing rather than harvesting. The new PR objectives and messaging improved the public image of a struggling industry that was misunderstood by the general public. This is a powerful reminder to industries that beliefs can correctly or incorrectly shape reality and a sound warning to all industries as to the value of an accurate and positive public image.
Science, Focused Resources, and Partnerships Save the Day
The dioxin issue was resolved quickly through intense science and engineering application, focused resources to reach clear goals, and aligned collaboration between industry, government, academia, and trade associations. By the early 1990s, most bleached pulp mills had reduced the TCDD and TCDF levels in bleach plant effluents to non-detectable levels at parts per quadrillion detection limits. The lessons learned and technologies applied are still practiced today[3] in new pulp mills and are coded into the Clean Water Act. These include:
- Displacement of elemental chlorine with chlorine dioxide;
- A post-pulping oxygen delignification before bleaching; and
- Use of alternative non-chlorine-containing bleaching agents (oxygen, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide) with alkaline washing stages.
While the events that occurred over the spotted owl controversy were unquestionably difficult for the many people who lost jobs due to the significant reduction in timber sold from federal lands, it was a victory for science-based sustainable forestry practices. Wildlife experts learned that spotted owls need mixed-growth forest habitat interspersed with old-growth trees whereby the old-growth trees provide nesting sites. Additionally, biologists found that other aggressive owl species adversely impact spotted owl populations.
New and Difficult Challenges
The pulp and paper industry’s response and adaptation to these challenging issues was a matter of survival. Since then and over the past couple of decades, the pulp and paper industry has continued to experience other issues resulting in numerous closures across the country. From 2000 to 2012[4] 117 mills closed. This trend is more severe in those states with higher densities of pulp and paper mills, such as Maine and Wisconsin. For example, Maine had over one hundred paper mills in 1906[5] but only six in 2017[6].
In June 2023, a hundred-year-old mill closed in Canton, NC[7] causing a loss of 1,300 direct jobs. On August 1, 2023, Westrock announced their mill in Tacoma, Washington will cease operations effective September 30, resulting in the loss of another 400 jobs.
While these shutdowns are unfortunate, paper is still an important component of modern society and fulfills several critical roles[8], as shown in Table 1, and will be needed in the future.
Table 1, Benefits of Paper in Modern Society
| Paper Use | Explanation | |
| 1 | Sanitation | Disposable tissue paper, paper cups, toilet paper, paper towels+, napkins. According to the Mayo Clinic, paper towels more effectively remove bacteria[1] and prevent contamination when compared to electric air dryers. Toilet paper plays a critical role in a modern, sanitary society. |
| 2 | Containers for food and beverages | Food and beverage packaging: food, drinks, cereal boxes, coffee, and tea filters; paper is lighter and easier to recycle than glass or metal and provides a better taste and aesthetic for food packaging than plastics. |
| 3 | Elections | Paper election ballots. Brookings Institute Study, election security experts from Stanford, Harvard, and the Brennan Center for Justice have all recommended phasing out all paperless voting.[2] Voting by paper has been shown to be more secure, and more resistant to ballot tampering than any other method. |
| 4 | Knowledge Transfer | Written books, magazines, documents, and reports (Deep reading comprehension improves with paper) |
| 5 | Medical/Disease Prevention | Paper keeps hospitals clean: hospital gowns, shields, gauze, and bandages.[3] |
| 6 | Packaging | Paper decomposes, is recyclable and is a solution to the microplastics contamination issue. Cardboard products allow shipping for online shopping to be affordable. |
| 7 | Decorations | Paper plays a key role in our decorative arts, interior decorations, wallpaper, art prints, posters, gift wrapping, holiday, and miscellaneous room decorations[4]. |
| 8 | Entertainment | Boardgames, arts, crafts, and art education. |
| 9 | Permanent Communications | Long-distance communication, handwritten paper letters, formal documents, permanent records. |
| 10 | Art | Paper is used for watercolor paintings, calligraphy, typography drawings, sketchbooks, history, and the development of the visual arts. |
Meeting Future Challenges
Interestingly, pulp and paper operations are a forerunner to modern biorefineries that operate as “circular economies.” The underlying benefit of a biorefinery is the collection, transportation, and concentration of biomass to one location whereby multiple products can be efficiently produced using unique processes with energy and material recovery benefits, such as kraft pulping (Figure 1), ethanol, soybean processing, and other integrated natural product processing facilities.
Figure 1, Kraft Recovery Cycles (Not Including Waste Heat Recovery)
By their nature, biorefineries are designed to reduce waste and increase efficiency by utilizing the by-products of one process to create additional co-products with other processes. A biorefinery uses circular systems, where the outputs of one process are used as the inputs for another. This type of manufacturing not only helps reduce the amount of waste generated, it also increases the efficiency of the overall process resulting in better income streams. Biorefineries also reduce the environmental impact by producing renewable energy or using waste energy sources to reduce the net amount of energy required per unit of output. Finally, biorefinery operations lower operating costs to provide more attractive financial and environmental performance.
Table 2, Pulp and Paper Kraft Biorefinery Products
| Kraft Pulp Mill Products | ||
| Item | Current Common Use | Optional or Future Uses |
| Bark | Removed from logs, boiler fuel | Chemicals |
| Chips | Pulp | Extra chips for gasification/extraction |
| Chip volatiles | Not captured | Opportunity for volatile capture |
| Fines and dust | Boiler Fuel | Pellets / Biochar / Activated Carbon/extracts |
| Crude sulfate turpentine | Fragrances, flavors, detergents, solvents, and thinners. | Assortment of higher value uses |
| Black Liquor | Recovery Boiler Fuel | Lignin |
| Tall oil soap | Tall oil for coatings, sizing for paper, paint, varnish, linoleum, drying oils, emulsions, lubricants, and soaps. | Ongoing product development |
| Unbleached Pulp—Containers/liner/bag | Packaging, line board, brown paper | Agricultural uses |
| Bleached Pulp–Paper | Paper products | Bioplastics and biopolymers as a replacement for synthetic plastics |
| Bleached Pulp–Dissolving | Clothing, chemicals | |
| Wastewater (BOD) | Water Treatment | Anaerobic Digestion |
| Fly Ash | Soil remediation, building materials | Innovative products |
| Sludge (wastewater) | Waste, fuel | Anaerobic Digestion |
| Slaker Grits | Waste | An opportunity for use |
| Green Liquor Dregs | Waste; possible neutralizing media[1] | Area of Research for circular economy benefits[2] |
| Lime Waste | Waste, mortar | |
| Electrical Energy | Kraft biorefinery can provide excess energy | Power for other processes or sale to the grid |
| Boiler Combustion Gas | CaCO3 / Limestone | Heat recovery, CO2 for growing algae, plants/greenhouses |
Conclusion
Since pulp and paper biorefineries use woody biomass as feedstock, they are a significant resource for forest managers to use in resource planning to maintain healthy forests less prone to wildfires and insect and disease infestations. Healthy forests are also more efficient in sequestering carbon, supporting species diversity, and maintaining high-quality freshwater. Sustainable pulp and paper biorefineries also provide renewable sources of energy that help national security and energy independence and help create strong rural economies with high-paying technology-oriented jobs. Indeed, modern pulp and paper biorefineries are circular economy leaders with a lot to offer society and will need to continue to adapt.
The pulp and paper biorefineries that remain will undoubtedly continue to face challenges in staying competitive on a global scale. Just like the challenges of the last half-century, this will take the concerted efforts of engineers, managers, scientists, investors, and visionary leaders to develop new bioproducts and biofuels. These large operations must see themselves as biorefineries with potentially larger roles in sustaining healthy forests and strong local economies. Like the lessons learned in the 1980s, the industry must continue to send a message that creates public support for pulp and paper biorefineries. As with any industry, we will find that successful pulp and paper biorefineries are those that find ways to monetize the full value they provide to society.
[1] USEPA/Paper Industry Cooperative Dioxin Study “The 104 Mill Study”, July 1990, US EPA
[2] https://www.afandpa.org/news/2023/paper-industry-sustainable
[3]https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/91014E0D.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1986%20Thru%201990&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C86THRU90%5CTXT%5C00000027%5C91014E0D.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=2&slide
[4] https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2012/11/29/paper-woes-companies-have-closed-117-american-mills-since-2000/26519118007/
[5] https://www.usw.org/act/campaigns/fair-trade/profiles/bad-trade-devastated-american-paper-industry
[6] https://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/2699/page/4319/print
[7] 2023 Brings More Pulp and Paper Mill Closures – Do You Have the Right Data? (ampproject.org)
[8] The Top Ten Unexpected Ways That Paper Impacts Your Life, NORPAC,
https://www.norpacpaper.com/blog/the-top-ten-unexpected-ways-that-paper-impacts-your-life
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538484/
[10] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2019/08/14/why-paper-is-considered-state-of-the-art-voting-technology/
[11] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-use-masks-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
[12] https://www.essentialhome.eu/inspirations/interiors-decor/importance-interior-design/%23:~:text=Interior%20design%20is%20a%20process,available%20in%20the%20intervened%20environment
[13] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-005-0031-0
[14] NOVEL TREATMENT METHODS FOR GREEN LIQUOR DREGS AND ENHANCING CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN KRAFT PULP MILLS, https://lutpub.lut.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/158867/Seyedmohammad%20Golmaei_A4.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1
About the Author. David Peterson has over 40 years of experience in the forest products industries, with most of his industrial experience in the pulp and paper sector. His experience includes being a Technical Director for an integrated kraft bleached pulp and paper mill that made high-line coated free sheet paper, CEO/Founder of a start-up company that made value-added chemicals active pharmaceutical ingredients from waste tree bark, and executive leadership with cellulosic biofuel projects, He is an enthusiastic champion of the forest products industry. David has a BS in Forest Products, Pulp and Paper Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Purdue University. David serves as a Project Director at Lee Enterprises Consulting, overseeing matters involving pulp and paper technology, biomass operations, technology start-ups, and process optimization. He and his wife of 33 years have five children and call Minnesota home.
