4@ ~— Friday, October 5, 1990 — North Shore News

Mac-Blo and Fletcher go for recycled pulp

Firms sign letter of intent to purchase

122,000 tonnes of recycled pulp per year

FOR YEARS the B.C. pulp and paper industry has said that there was not the market demand for recycled newsprint, and that producing newsprint from virgin trees

was cheaper and casier.

Now the demand for recycled newsprint is here, yet B.C. cannot produce the product.

Canada produces far more newsprint than any other country in the world. B.C. alone is the fourth largest producer of newsprint in the world, manufac- turing over two million tonnes per year.

However, the U.S. and Europe are well ahead of Canada in responding to the market demand for environmentally sound pro- ducts. Of the more than 120 paper mills in Canada, only one — Domtar in Quebec — produces a non-bleached product.

In British Columbia there are currently no unbleached or recycl- ed paper products being produced.

Fred Vyse, sales manager at College Printers, says there is a demand for recycled newsprint, but “‘the supply is the problem. People request recycled newsprint, but I can’t buy enough to have on stock. When people find out the cost, and that their money will be spent in the U.S., they go *“Whoa!’"”

Jerry McGinn at Transcontinen- tal West printers says that the demand has existed for years.

**But why buy from the U.S.?”’ McGinn asks. ‘*That does nothing for our landfill problem or our local environment.”

McGinn is right.

Nor does buying from U.S. suppliers help the B.C. economy.

Vancouver businessman Stuart Belkin, president of Newstech Inc., has responded to this oppor- tunity with a proposed $83-million de-inxing mill for Coquitlam. The mill has recently received en- vironmental safeguards approval, and Belkin expects to have recycl- ed pulp available for local paper mills by the fall of 1991.

‘*The challenge,’’ says Belkin, **is that there is not enough recycled newsprint in B.C.”

Although the Greater Van- couver Regional District has agreed to step up newspaper col- lection to supply the new plant,

Man jailed for UI fraud

A NORTH Vancouver man was

sentenced Sept. 20 to 90 days in jail and fined $1,300 for making false statements in his claims for unemployment insurance benefits.

Russell Tarling pleaded guilty in North Vancouver provincial court to 13 counts of falsely stating that he did not earn any money during the period from Jan. 1, 1989 to the end of June 1989.

Judge R.D. Grandison recom- mended Tarling serve his sentence on the electronic monitoring pro- gram, which monitors the activi- ties of prisoners at their homes.

THE GOOD EARTH

Newstech will have to bring half their requirement from Alberta and Saskatchewan.

B.C. currently recycles less than 25 per cent of its newsprint, com- pared with 40 per cent in Sweden, 50 per cent in Japan, and 70 per cent in Oregon.

“What we need in B.C.,"’ says Belkin, ‘‘is proper legisiation to encourage recycling, and the con- sumer demand to make it prac- tical.””

After the collection of used newsprint, de-inking is the next stage of recycling. Ink, coatings, and fillers are washed from the paper. The pulp, although brighter than pure chip pulp, still has to be bleached.

In a typical kraft mill, like all pulp mills in B.C., the chiorine bleaching process produces the most toxic effluents, dioxins,

furans, and other organochlorines.

The Newstech mill will use hydrogen peroxide bleaching, the most environmentally benign bleaching method.

Still, the de-inking mill must deal with a solid waste stream.

According to Belkin, over 90 per cent of the solid wastes will be organic, and he says that within three years of start-up all of this organic waste will be composted.

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Sven then, the mill will have to dispose of 2,500 tonnes of inert solid wastes each year, primarily paper clips, staples, and coating material.

However, since the mill is using recycled material, it is fair to say that this waste does not represent an increase in the landfill prob- lem. In fact, the mill is a net user of landfill waste.

Newstech will borrow $43 mil- lion from the bank and will come up with $26 million itself to build the plant. A $14 million loan from the B.C. government was, accord- ing to Belkin, ‘*the final piece to the puzzle.””

Another important piece to the puzzle was a joint agreement with MacMillan-Bloedel and Fletcher Challenge to buy the recycled pulp.

According to Jim Kirkland, manager of strategic studies for MacMillan-Bloedel, the recycled pulp will be **blended with our virgin pulp to have sume recycled content. We're trying to demon- strate that we want to get recycled material into our product.”’

MacMillan-Bioedel and Fletcher Chailenge have signed letters of intent to purchase all of Newstech’s recycled pulp produc- tion, 122,000 connes per year.

ironically, however, their com- mitment is not in response to local demand, but in response to the demand for recycled newsprint in the U.S. According to B.C. Regional and Economic Develop- ment Minister Stan Hagen, the recycled newsprint is destined for California.

“More and more customers in our biggest market, the U.S., are requiring newsprint that contains recycled fibres,’’ says Hagen.

Stuart Clugston of Fletcher Challenge confirms that the recycled newsprint is for the California market where recent legislation now requires newsprint to contain 40 per cent recycled material. Clugston says ‘‘the de- mand in British Columbia is in- significant.”’

Although still behind the U.S. and Europe, the wheels of ecological development may be starting to turn in British Colum- bia.

Former

alderman seeks WV seat

FORMER WESE Vancouver alderman Den Coiffiths has an- nomneed that fre will seek a seat on West Vancouser District Council in the upeoming Nosember municipal elections.

Griffiths said he decided to run again beeause of his concern for the community and his desire to help it) meet the challenges of the 1990s.

“Eo want to translate my care for West Vancouver's well-being into effective work that will ensure it remains the most attractive place to live in Canada,”* he said.

Now retired after 40 years as an executive with Cominco, Griffiths has for the past three years been president of the Coho Festival. He is currently a director of the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and was formerly a director of the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce.

“Safety is no accident, $0 PLAYSAFE!"

FORMER WEST Van alderman Don Griffiths wants West Van to remain the most attrac- tive place to live in Canada.

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