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The more wastes we recycle, the
less we have to throw away.
The P. H. Glatfelter Company is very active in the recycling business. Our paper mill
in Neenah, Wisconsin produces paper from wastepaper once destined for the landfill.
Much of the wastepaper recycled at the Neenah mill comes from book printing, commercial
printing and paper converting. Another source of wastepaper recycled at the mill is
"post-consumer waste", or the type of waste generated in offices such as used
computer printout paper and discarded letters and memos.
At our Neenah mill, we convert wastepapers into new paper that will be used to print
fiction and non-fiction books, textbooks, business forms, and other specialty products.
We use about 120,000 tons of recycled wastepaper each year to produce bright white
printing and specialty papers. The greatest challenge in making these papers is removing
all of the inks, coatings and other contaminants found within the wastepaper.
Our Neenah mill, which has been recycling wastepaper since 1904, has pioneered many
technical advances in recycling.
Research efforts at the Neenah mill continue in the area of wastepaper deinking and
papermaking technology as well as in the exploration of alternative uses for the solid
waste generated by the mill.
Our recycling efforts are not limited to the paper we produce in Wisconsin. Here are
just a few of the items we recycle throughout our organization:
- Pulping Chemicals. Most of the chemicals we use
are captured in recovery systems and reused in the process or put into containers and sold
as raw materials. Turpentine, a byproduct of pine pulping at our Spring Grove mill, is
sold for use in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and paint thinner.
- Water. This natural resource is recycled more
than any other raw material. Before we send water to our waste treatment facilities, we
recycle it through various processes many times, thus reducing the amount of fresh water
needed from nearby rivers, reservoirs and streams.
Recycling makes sense because it saves landfill space and helps reduce the amount of
ingredients we must buy to make our paper. In addition to our raw materials and
papermaking wastes, our recycling efforts extend to our office waste stream through our
collection of computer printout paper, stationary, magazines, and other post-consumer
wastes such as old cardboard, fiber cores, and aluminum cans.
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