Our Environmental Impact
Waste not, want not One man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. That’s how Domtar
“We’ve worked through regional North Carolina State University
mills like Plymouth and Kingsport are approaching experimental
Agricultural Extension Agents to kick off the project and coordinate
projects to beneficially reuse by-products and waste streams from
with area farmers, and interest from the farmers is promising,” said
their operations.
Diane Hardison, Environmental Manager at the Plymouth Mill.
In 2012, the Plymouth Mill began testing an alternate application
The Kingsport Mill has a groundbreaking project of its own. Having
for its wet ash, or char, which has traditionally been put back in the
previously won an environmental award from the state for their
facility’s bark pile to be re-burned in the biomass boilers. The char
low cost, quality soil amendment, the mill’s management team
is now being trialed as the carrier material for other substrates in
in 2012 found yet another opportunity to meet an environmental
bagged potting soils, which are commercially marketed in home
need that makes business sense.
and garden centers. The trials will continue throughout 2013 to determine the product’s marketability and revenue potential.
The mill’s primary and secondary sludge, fly ash, bottom ash, and other by-products are being combined into an optimal mix and used as an alternate daily cover at a nearby Class I landfill site.
Plymouth is also well on its way to reducing, by more than 90%, the tonnage of other materials currently sent to the onsite landfill, such as ash, grits, dregs and lime residuals, by transforming them into a soil amendment for local farmers, called K-lime®. The byproducts are being mixed on site by a certified third party into a high-performing blend that would cost growers a quarter of what they spend for traditional fertilizers. The necessary lab work and
Well-managed landfills have exposed areas covered daily with
applications are complete, and the Plymouth Environmental Team
a blanket of soil. When a landfill cell is permanently closed, it is
is now waiting for regulatory approvals.
covered with soil and grass – sometimes at great expense. The Kingsport Mill’s new product offers a more economical option for
Bagged potting soil containing by-products from the Plymouth Mill
the owners and operators of landfills. “This has been a very strategic recycling initiative since we now are able to use all of our residuals, not just one or two, for this one application that fills a real business need. This project has been a multi-year effort working with various stakeholders, and it effectively translates into almost zero industrial waste going to landfill for us. For 2013 and beyond, this initiative should dramatically and positively impact the amount of materials being beneficially reused at Domtar,” declared Anthony Robinson, Manager of Environmental Affairs at the Kingsport Mill. He also noted that, while there are individual stream applications, he doesn’t know of any other company developing this type of all-encompassing soil product for Class I landfills. In addition to the outstanding environmental benefits of this project, the Kingsport Mill will also save around $650,000 each year in costs by eliminating third-party landfill fees. While passionate about their current waste transformation projects, both Diane and Anthony point out that they will continue to look for higher and better uses for their mill residuals.
22 DOM T AR 2 0 1 2 sust a i n a b l e g r o w th r e p o r t