Inland Empire Paper Company - Environment

Learn More About IEP and the Environment

Accomplishments

Inland Empire Paper Co. (IEP) is proactive in the research and implementation of state-of-the-art technologies to enhance the mill’s performance and efficiency. These ongoing improvements and modernizations are necessary to keep us competitive and to further minimize our environmental impact. The following represents a brief summary of Inland Empire Paper Company’s most recent accomplishments to improve our environmental performance:

Efficiency

In 2001, Inland Empire Paper Company installed and commissioned a modern and efficient paper machine with the capability of producing up to 700 tons per day of newsprint. This machine represents the newest newsprint paper machine installation in North America, and one of only three in the world to operate at this level of efficiency. This state-of-the-art equipment incorporates the latest technologies for efficient operation, including heat recovery, energy efficiency and water conservation.

Recycling

IEP invests great effort to incorporate recycling of resources into its manufacturing processes. 100% of the fiber produced by the mill is provided by waste products. IEP refines wood waste materials from local sawmills as virgin fiber to account for approximately 50% of its final newsprint product. The deinking facility currently processes 350 tons per day of waste paper consisting of old newsprint, telephone books and magazines. Originally installed in 1991, this facility created a market for these products collected by municipal solid waste management programs.

Waste and Energy Reduction

In 1991, Inland Empire Paper Company installed the world’s first Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) system consuming 100% paper waste. The FBC consumes in excess of 45,000 tons/year of waste produced by the deink facility that would otherwise be sent to landfill. The FBC is one of the most efficient combustion systems available for the consumption of low quality fuels and is equipped with all necessary emissions control equipment to meet stringent environmental regulations. Consumption of waste in the FBC system greatly minimizes landfill disposal, resulting in less truck traffic and associated emissions. The ash generated by the FBC is beneficially reused as a concrete admixture. The energy produced with the combustion of the waste has replaced over 25% of the mill’s natural gas usage.

IEP generates minimal amounts of waste products requiring disposal. We examine all waste products for potential reuse or recycling. In fact, the largest source of waste materials requiring disposal actually come from the recycling of old newspapers and magazines. Until recently, most recycled old newspapers and magazine originated from “sorted” streams that consisted primarily of paper. Now the recycled paper products come to us as “single stream”. Unfortunately for paper recyclers, this “single stream” material contains a significant amount of contaminants in the form of trash. The continually increasing trash loading required the installation of an elaborate trash handling separation and handling system to recover the usable fiber from this contaminated source of waste paper. The remaining trash from this separation process has become the mill’s greatest source requiring disposal.

Water Conservation

Beginning in 2004, IEP embarked on an aggressive water conservation program. Numerous projects have been implemented, including:  reuse of wastewater in various mill processes, reuse of water from the recycling of old newsprint, installation of flow control devices on pump seals, and optimization of water intensive processes. Since the onset of this program, IEP has reduced its fresh water usage by over 1.0 million gallons per day. IEP is continuing with these efforts and expects further reductions in the near future.

Water Quality

Inland Empire Paper Company played an active role in Washington State Department of Ecology's Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) collaboration for the Spokane River. During the collaboration, Inland Empire Paper Company performed pilot scale testing of six state-of-the-art low level phosphorus reduction technologies. Continuing with these proactive efforts, Inland Empire Paper Company placed an order for the supply of a 1.0 million gallon per day tertiary treatment system to further our evaluation of this promising technology. Clean, filtered effluent from the tertiary treatment system will be used as reclaim water within the mill, reducing approximately 1.0 million gallons per day of treated water discharge into the Spokane River.