Executive Summary
	Introduction
	Significance of Releases to Various Media in Terms of Total Releases
	Composition of Releases to Various Media
	Conclusions
	Appendix A

National Office of Pollution Prevention

An Analysis of Pulp and Paper Mill Reports to the NPRI for 1999

Executive Summary

This report provides an analysis of the on-site releases of National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) substances in 1999 by the Canadian pulp and paper industry, as reported to the NPRI office of Environment Canada. The NPRI office also collects information on off-site transfers for disposal, recycling and energy recovery. This information is not included in this analysis. At the time this report was prepared, 1999 was the most recent year for which full information was available. It is noted that some reductions may have occurred for some mills subsequently.

Each industrial sector is identified by a two-digit Canadian Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code within the NPRI database and sub-groups are identified by a four-digit code. The code for the Paper and Allied Products Industry is 27 and subgroups are identified by a four-digit code. For example, the Pulp Industry is represented by SIC 2711.

According to the NPRI National Overview 1999, the facilities classified under SIC 27 released a total of 33 380 tonnes of NPRI substances to air, water and land. For the 1999 reporting year, 73 new substances were added to the existing list of substances. It should be noted that only four of these 73 chemicals were reported by the pulp and paper industry, namely hydrogen sulphide, nonylphenols and its ethoxylates (NPE), formic acid and n-hexane, which was reported by one facility that is not a pulp and paper facility but is classified under SIC 27. Of the new four new substances, hydrogen sulphide was released in the greatest quantity.

When facilities report to the NPRI, they indicate the appropriate SIC code for their facility. Some facilities have reported under SIC 27 that are not from the pulp and paper industry. The data presented in this report are only for facilities that reported under SIC 27 that are from the pulp and paper sector. Thus, there is some discrepancy between the data presented in the NPRI National Overview 1999 and the data in this report for SIC 27. The data set used to prepare this report has been reviewed to ensure that all facilities included are from the pulp and paper sector and includes a total of 115 facilities. This is in comparison to 127 facilities that report to the NPRI under SIC 27.

Table 1 provides a synopsis of the releases to the three media (air, water and land) for the 115 mills under consideration. Releases to air were dominant, accounting for 78% of the total quantity released. Releases to water and land were lower than those for air, accounting for approximately 18% and 4% of the total mass released, respectively.

Table 1: Summary of NPRI 1999 Substance Releases to Various Media

Methanol was by far the substance released in the greatest quantity, accounting for almost 54% of the total releases. Other substances released in relatively large quantities were ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and sulphuric acid, which accounted for 12%, 9% and 5% of the total releases, respectively. Collectively these four chemicals account for almost 81% of the total releases.

Releases to water have decreased dramatically as a result of the 1992 Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations that were passed under the Fisheries Act. It is estimated that releases to water decreased by a factor of 2.5 when compared to 1994 data. The addition of secondary treatment facilities, which treat mill effluent via biological means, has had a tremendous impact on the reduction of releases to water bodies.

The composition of releases differs between the three media. For air, methanol was released in the greatest quantity and accounted for 62% of total air releases. Hydrogen sulphide accounted for 12%, sulphuric acid accounted for 7%, and ammonia accounted for 7%. Collectively these four substances accounted for 87% of the total air releases. The remaining 13% of the emissions were accounted for by an additional sixteen chemicals.

Upon examination of releases to water, it was found that ammonia accounted for 37% of the total water discharges. Ammonia was reported by many mills due to its use as a nutrient in biological treatment systems. Methanol accounted for 30% of the releases to water, however a large portion (38%) of the methanol released originated from a single Kraft mill. This mill sought to meet effluent limits using only pollution prevention methods. Eighteen other compounds were discharged to water and accounted for 34% of the total releases to water.

Manganese and zinc accounted for 80% of the releases to land. These metals are present in wood and are released to land via wood ash as a result of incineration and subsequent landfilling of the ash. Eleven other substances were released to land and account for the remaining 20% of the releases.

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