The newsprint mill at our Coosa Pines (Alabama) operation may have officially ceased production in 2012, but its story lives on.
The 250,000 square foot building is currently under demolition, and Resolute is committed to ensuring the equipment and materials are recycled or reused rather than sent to landfill.
Over the next few months, under an agreement with G&H Ventures, approximately 95% of the building infrastructure and equipment will be sent for re-use or recycling. We are sending metals from the building, for example, to steel mills instead of scrap yards. Oil and other lubricators found in transformers and gearboxes, and any other liquids that can be re-used, will also be repurposed. Even the brick used to build the building itself will be salvaged – and any brick that is not suitable will be put through a crusher to be re-used for roads and driveways.
A small amount of treated wood, insulation and roofing material that cannot be recycled is destined for a specialized landfill, while potentially hazardous materials will be properly handled and disposed.
In addition to fully complying with all applicable laws, the team at Coosa Pines is applying best practices in sustainability to ensure the building is safely and responsibility demolished. By September, the team estimates that approximately 50,000 metric tons (55,000 short tons) of material will have been recycled.
The Coosa Pines newsprint mill (originally Coosa River Newsprint) opened in 1950, and at one time, supported over 300 publishers. Slower demand for newsprint forced the eventual shutdown of the mill’s newsprint machines, and in 2011, production was permanently halted.
Turning the page on this next chapter, material from the Coosa Pines mill will be used to meet other needs around the state of Alabama and beyond.
Resolute is proud to be at the forefront of the transition to a cleaner, more competitive circular economy, and we are always seeking opportunities to do more with less. For more information on our approach to waste management and beneficial-use programs, please visit Waste Management on the Key Performance Indicators page of our corporate website’s Sustainability section.
Source: The Resolute Blog
