Environment protection - Our Responsibility

Environment protection

Our way of working in harmony with nature is reflected in three core areas.

Production

We permanently work on minimizing the impact on the environment. For us, this includes:

strict compliance with all legal regulations with respect to air and water protection
avoiding unpleasant odors and noise pollution and
the reduction of residues which cannot be processed further.

Raw materials and energy

By continuously optimizing production processes, the consumption of:

raw materials
water
chemicals
energy

is steadily reduced.

Transport

We always strive to find optimal solutions to align the efficiency of our companies to the requirements of environmental protection.

38,000 railroad cars arrive at and leave our mills every day.

We work in harmony with nature and use renewable raw materials for our production – in doing so, we also generate green energy.

Power generation
The cogeneration of heat and power not only leads to high efficiency. The carbon-neutral fuel black liquor can also efficiently be converted into electricity this way. By further expanding the turbine landscape in the plant, Zellstoff Pöls will be able to make even better use of surplus energy in the future. The target is to feed an additional 115 GWh p.a. of green power into the public grid.
District heating
Since 2011, Zellstoff Pöls AG has converted waste heat from production into district heating for the Mur Valley in Styria, supplying roughly 15,000 households. Raubling Papier GmbH also supplies neighboring industrial companies with 800 MWh of heat or electricity per year via the district heating grid.
Biogas
We produce high-quality biogas for heat generation in the anaerobic treatment stage of the elaborate wastewater treatment at our plants. At the locations in Laakirchen and Raubling biogas substitutes natural gas, and consequently the use of fossil fuels. Heinzel Group’s pulp mill in Estonia produces roughly 8 million cubic meters of biogas per year through anaerobic wastewater treatment, which OÜ Greengas upgrades to the grid quality of natural gas as renewable natural gas. This gas has been available at gas stations in Estonia since 2018.

Green energy as a by-product

115 GWh
District heating
76 GWh
Biogas
57 GWh
Electricity

Water

Working in harmony with nature also means to return withdrawn resources such as water to nature in sufficiently high quality. Based on targeted investments in all mills, we continuously reduce water requirements and the wastewater load. Regular water quality assessments confirm that there are no negative influences on limnology and fish stock.

Environmental management

ISO 9001
Certified quality control
ISO 14001
Environmental management system
FSC® & PEFC®
Certified trading companies

Community involvement
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Working together
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Our locations
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