Waste

We now re-use 95% of the waste we generate when making tissue

Georgia-Pacific EMEA considers waste management as a priority. Using resources efficiently to create products society values is how we create value. To be sustainable, Georgia-Pacific EMEA focuses on a hierarchy approach to waste with the goal of fully and efficiently utilizing resources. The hierarchy is as follows:

Reduce – we start by trying to reduce the amount of waste we produce when making tissue;
Reuse - the next highest priority is to reuse material where feasible;
Recycle – the third priority is to recycle material;
Recover energy – we try to extract energy from what we cannot eliminate;
Compost/Compact – to reduce the volume to landfill;
Incinerate – to reduce landfill volume;
Landfill – as the final option.

All of these are limited by social, environmental and economic considerations, but we continually strive to choose the option that has the highest priority and which best balances the other considerations.

Our Achievements

Currently, Georgia-Pacific EMEA sends only 5% of its waste stream to incineration or landfill, finding higher value end-of-life alternatives for 95% of its waste. Some examples of what we have achieved so far, include:

In the converting process, any cutting losses or left-overs from the tissue reels are returned to the paper making process;
Packaging materials we receive in our mills like plastics, cardboard or wood are entirely sorted and recycled through recycling partners we are working with; and
The sludge from our deinking process is reused to make building products like cement, stones and building panels, or is reused as raw material to develop roads. We also reuse that sludge as a fertilizer to specific crops fields in France and UK.

What waste is generated when making tissue?

In the converting process, parent tissue rolls, called reels, are converted into finished products. Any cutting losses or leftovers from the tissue reels are returned to the paper-making process. Any packaging materials like plastics, cardboard or wood are entirely recycled.

To maximize internal recycling of water, all water is treated in purification systems. Impurities are separated from the water in the form of sludge.

The deinking process in waste paper mills also generates some specific waste coming from recycled paper. This is often a mix of staples (metal), plastic, wood, etc.

Much of the solid waste shipped from recycled facilities is actually the non-usable part of the waste stream brought into the facility. The mill takes in a large paper containing waste stream diverted from a landfill, removes the reusable fiber, and sends what remains on to the landfill. It is not new waste, but the reduced waste stream brought into the mill in search of recovered fiber.

Our achievements

Georgia-Pacific EMEA is constantly improving its processes to increase production efficiency in order to reduce the creation of waste. We then try to add value to any waste that is still generated. Creating value from waste is our key metric for sustainable waste management, where we focus on re-use first, then recycling, and finally energy recovery. This figure recently reached a high of 95% in our mills.

Some key projects that led to this sustained increase include

Recycling of beverage carton waste at our Hondouville mill in France. After the deinking processes:
- 75% of the waste consisting of cellulose fiber is extracted and used in the pulp making process before being converted into Lotus Professional®'s range of hygienic paper products;
- For the remaining 25% of the components from beverage carton waste consisting mainly of plastic and aluminium, Georgia-Pacific partners with other recycling initiatives. Traidib in France, for example, uses the waste to make urban furniture. (picture)
Waste segregation in our mills for onward transfer to other industries using the waste. Recycling of sludge for building and road foundations: sludge is used in making cement, stones and building panels.
Use of sludge as a barrier in landfills.
Application of paper sludge as a fertilizer for specific crops in France and the UK.

Our commitment

In the coming years, Georgia-Pacific EMEA will continue to recycle waste paper in its recycled fiber mills. To all waste generated in our tissue mills, we will try to add as much value as possible.