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Reducing Our Climate Impacts
About Mohawk
Mohawk is an independent, family owned
business, founded in 1931 that is now run by the
3rd generation of the O’Connor family.
We manufacture our papers exclusively in the
United States, operating three mills and six
paper machines, with over 175,000 tons of
capacity.
Products
Premium grade printing & writing papers
End-use Customers
•Corporate
•Educational
•Non-government Organizations (NGOs)
•Office Stores
As a resource-intensive,
ephemeral product which is
consumed in great
quantities, paper draws the
attention of “wise-use”
advocacy groups.
However, in recent years
their attention has shifted
from the mill to the
consumer.
Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting
Social and environmental
issues of interest to a
corporation vary by the nature
of its business, but
increasingly the emphasis has
been on the potential impacts
of climate change and climate
change mitigation strategies.
Many companies now also
discuss their consumption of
paper in the context of
sustainable forestry and
climate science to address the
concerns of organizations
such as the National Wildlife
Federation.
JPMorgan Chase Community
Partnership Report
“We have a direct impact on the
environment through our daily
consumption of energy and paper
resources.”
“We are committed to advancing
the public dialogue on climate
change and the need to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions”
Why the focus on paper rather than other consumer goods?
Paper is a highly disposable item
produced in vast quantities in a very
resource and energy intensive process.
The pulp and paper industry is:
•
the largest consumer of wood fiber – of the global wood harvest for industrial uses
(everything but fuel wood) 42% goes into paper production.1 (Abramovitz, “Paper Cuts”
Worldwatch Institute, 1999)
•
the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter in OECD countries, after
the chemical and steel industries.2
Footnotes:
1 Abramovitz, “Paper Cuts” Worldwatch Institute, 1999
2 OECD Environmental Outlook, 2001
Why is sustainable forestry such a critical issue?
Forests are not only great reservoirs of biodiversity but also play a key role in the
carbon cycle. They convert CO2 to carbon which is then stored in biomass and
soils. Conversely, forests emit GHGs when biomass burns or decays. The
indiscriminate destruction of forests contributes to climate change.
The climate change impact of deforestation is significant.
•
•
Changes in land use (deforestation primarily in tropical rainforests) currently
constitute about 30 % of CO2 emissions traceable to human activity.
At least 37.5 million acres of rainforests are lost annually, an area the size
of Georgia. Source: UNEP
Commercial logging is not the only activity that contributes to
deforestation, and if done in a sustainable manner, its impacts are
greatly mitigated.
At present, the countries emitting the most
carbon into the atmosphere from tropical
deforestation are, in order of importance:
•
•
•
•
Mexico
•
Thailand
Brazil
Indonesia
Burma
As a domestic paper producer and as stewards of the environment, we have an
obligation to use energy as efficiently as possible while using all available means
to reduce our GHG emissions.
The US has less than 5% of the world’s population,
consumes 26% of the world’s oil production,
while owning less than 3% of the world’s known oil reserves.
Data source: Energy Information Administration, Basic Petroleum Statistics, 2006
Mohawk: the evolution of environmental stewardship
1970s – 1980s ...
…1990s …
…21st Century
Legal compliance
Strategic management
Sustainable business
Reactionary
Preemptive action
Extended stewardship
By-the-book
Source control
Emphasis on
end-of-pipe treatment
Pollution prevention
Management oversight
Risk analysis
Best management
practices
Continuous improvement
Manufacturing efficiency
Integration EHS management
Management participation
Beyond-the-fence impacts
Global impacts
Resource conservation
Ecosystem protection
Product life-cycle considerations
Engagement & Communication
Regulators
Lenders
Customers
Community
Suppliers
Media
Employees
Environmental innovation
Renewable energy
Carbon offsetting
Carbon neutrality
Third party certification
Management leadership
Affiliations, partnerships, and third party certification programs
“Green Seal is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to
safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by
promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally
responsible products and services.”
The FSC “product label allows consumers worldwide to recognize
products that support the growth of responsible forest management
worldwide.”
“The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program offers a diverse set of certification and
verification services,...ranging from Forest Stewardship Council certification, to verification
of legality, to the management of high conservation value forests.”
Climate Leaders is an industry-government partnership that works with
companies to develop long-term comprehensive climate change strategies.
Partners set a corporate-wide GHG reduction goal and inventory their emissions
to measure progress.
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages
organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts
associated with purchased electricity use.
Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) creates partnerships in the Northeast
to implement solutions to climate change and build constituencies
for effective climate policies and actions.
Energy Conservation / Demand side management
Composite data for all three mills
800
750
700
650
kWh / Ton
Production -20%
600
550
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
12.00
11.50
Aging steam plants were voluntarily replaced
in the early 1990s with low-emission natural
gas fired boilers which:
• reduced fuel consumption by 14%
• reduced GHG emissions by 43%
• took a voluntary emissions cap on NY mills
11.00
10.50
10.00
9.50
mmBTU / Ton
Production - 13%
9.00
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Mohawk’s approach to carbon neutrality
What is carbon neutrality?
“Describes an entity that releases the
same amount of CO2 that it absorbs,
hence producing a carbon footprint of
zero.”
• Calculate GHG emissions within the
framework of a credible program.
• Create goals to reduce emissions by
reducing energy consumption.
Time, April 9, 2007
• Offset the remaining carbon
emissions produced for each ton of
carbon neutral designated product.
Greenhouse gases
from business
activities
Reforestation
Renewable energy
Energy conservation
Verified carbon offsets
http://www.epa.gov/climateleaders/
In summary, we are focused on the development of products that balance
quality, service and price with minimal lifecycle impact.
Why?
•
Paper is still the main way organizations
communicate with their stakeholders.
•
The paper an organization chooses for
its communications can in itself convey a
positive message to stakeholders who
value environmental and social
responsibility.
•
Minimizing environmental impacts creates good will with
stakeholders while reducing operating costs and business risk.
Mohawk Fine Papers
http://mohawkpaper.com/
http://strathmore.com/