In Canada and the United States, the pulp and paper industry is one of the top commercial consumers of energy. Additionally, the processes used in pulp and paper production require a substantial amount of water. Since these are not free resources, the energy- and water-intensive processes in most mills are generally under constant scrutiny. However, as the demand for many paper products increases today, the efficiency issues in a lot of existing mills are being further magnified. This is causing production costs to rise in a nonlinear fashion as production capacities are pushed well beyond what the mill was designed for. Additionally, needing to handle increased production is also making it difficult for most mills to identify areas where resource consumption can be decreased yet still support the increased production needs.
At the same time that mills are struggling with efficiency issues and how to possibly reduce resource consumption to reduce costs, environmental, social, and governance (ES&G) issues are becoming key concerns for consumers and investors alike. This means there is a lot of pressure on mills from some of their key stakeholders to reduce water and energy consumption as well. There are also many government incentives being put into place today to help drive greenhouse gas emission reduction. For example, there is now a carbon tax in place for burning natural gas in Canada, essentially doubling the cost of this energy source. Therefore, from a business perspective, it is essential for mills to figure out methods for reducing natural gas consumption and its resulting emissions.
With this combination of consumer and investor pressure, government incentives, and rising energy and water costs in general, there is a strong business need to develop a strategy that optimizes the use of these resources in mills. Since our specialists at Allnorth have spent their careers working in pulp and paper, they are well positioned to partner with your mill to integrate new and modern processes. With our process integration approach to evaluating mill operations, we are confident we can bring your mill the predictable outcomes needed to operate efficiently and make the mill sustainable environmentally and for your bottom line.
To get an overview of the common areas where we see many mills experiencing energy and water inefficiencies and learn more about the improvements that can be made by implementing some relatively simple optimization efforts, download our white paper, Optimize Your Pulp and Paper Mill Production by Addressing Resource Consumption Inefficiencies.