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Domtar releases 2019 sustainability report on environmental progress

Domtar has released its 2019 Sustainability Report, detailing the progress the company has made on emissions and waste reduction, and other environmental initiatives.

The report indicates Domtar has met most of its goals for 2020, including increasing the level of FSC-certified fibre it uses to at least 20 percent, reducing its direct greenhouse gas emissions and indirect emissions from purchased energy by 15 percent, and developing a full-cost-of-water model.

Among the highlights:

• 38 percent of the fibre procured for Domtar’s pulp and paper mills was certified, including 21 percent from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified sources.
• 19 percent reduction in waste to landfill from pulp and paper mills since 2013, while beneficially using 69 percent of the manufacturing byproducts generated.
• 72 percent of the energy used in Domtar’s pulp and paper mills came from renewable biomass fuels, along with self-generating an equivalent of 72 percent of the electricity they used.
• 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at pulp and paper mills since 2010.
• 2 percent reduction in water use at pulp and paper mills since 2014.

The company’s outstanding goals include reducing total waste to landfill from pulp and paper mills by 40 percent of 2013 levels (status: 19 percent), implementing its EarthChoice Ambassador program for employee engagement in sustainability efforts across all of its facilities (status: 86 percent), and reducing its recordable safety incident rate to 0.50 (status: 0.74).

“We and our investors care about how efficiently we use natural resources in our manufacturing, how we support our communities, how we have reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and how we develop our employees and keep them safe,” says John D. Williams, Domtar President and CEO. “We believe that caring about our environment, our communities and our people helps us better meet our business objectives and deliver returns for the long term.”