Resolute Forest Products has offset natural gas use at recycled newsprint mill by more than 200 million cubic meters.
Walker Environmental Group (WEG), headquartered in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, has helped nearby newsprint manufacturer Resolute Forest Products eliminate the need for more than 200 million cubic meters of natural gas since 2002 by processing and providing its landfill gas as a source of energy.
According to WEG, the energy from the landfill gas, used by Resolute's Thorold, Ontario, production facility, is equivalent to the natural gas used by approximately 80,000 Ontario homes. Resolute Forest Products is a manufacturer of 100-percent-recycled-content newsprint headquartered in Montreal.
"We're proud of our part in achieving this measurable improvement in Ontario's efforts to address climate change. By utilizing landfill gas, we are helping transform what was once considered a waste, into a valuable asset. We're also helping Ontario businesses wean themselves away from nonrenewable and greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive fuel sources," says Mike Watt, executive vice president of WEG.
Landfill gas, comprising mainly methane and carbon dioxide, is created when organic materials degrade in landfills. In 2009, Ontario's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change required landfill gas to be collected and flared at large landfills to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At its Niagara landfill, WEG goes above and beyond the regulation by further processing the gas and piping it to Resolute's nearby paper mill, reducing the mill's dependence on nonrenewable fuel sources.
"Our partnership with WEG has been a great success story. Using renewable landfill gas has furthered our commitment to reducing our GHG footprint," says Gord Cole, vice president and general manager Thorold Operations, Resolute Forest Products. “As a proud member of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Climate Savers program, Resolute has set among the most ambitious GHG reduction targets in the global forest products industry. We're very pleased that we have exceeded our goal two full years ahead of schedule, achieving an absolute reduction of 67.5 percent compared with a year 2000 baseline. Projects such as this with WEG contribute to our ongoing efforts and likewise provide a stable, low-cost, renewable energy source for our operations."
By displacing the need for nonrenewable energy sources, the project has reduced more than 375,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This is equivalent to taking approximately 79,000 cars off the road.
"WEG has demonstrated its leadership once again in the development of a low carbon economy. This project supports a resilient Niagara Region that wastes less, and makes an efficient use of energy from waste resources," says Katrina Kroeze, executive director, Niagara Sustainability Initiative.
Walker Industries Holdings Limited is a fifth-generation, family-owned company with a focus on aggregates, emulsions and sustainable environmental solutions. It is known for its philanthropy and 'above and beyond' service to its customers and communities. Walker Environmental Group Inc. (WEG), a division of Walker Industries Holdings Limited, offers a wide range of environmental waste solutions for private, public and government agencies as well as disposal and recycling for industrial, commercial and residential customers of Southern Ontario. Businesses operated by WEG include two landfills, a waste transfer facility, six biosolids plants, a composting facility, four food and residual organic processing facilities, landfill gas projects in Ontario and Manitoba, and a company that hauls industrial, commercial and institutional waste. WEG is one of Ontario's largest handlers of nonhazardous waste.
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint, specialty papers, market pulp and wood products. The Thorold plant produces 100 percent recycled newsprint. The company owns or operates some 40 pulp and paper mills and wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea, and power generation assets in Canada.