Seeking to reduce our impact
The majority of fresh water used by SKG is returned to the source after use and cleaning. We actually consume a relatively small quantity of water, equating to less than 9% of our water intake.
One of our mills in Germany (Zülpich) operates a totally closed loop system for process water, while the other SKG mills practise a high degree of water re-use within the process.
Water discharges in Europe
In 2005, we started an ambitious investment programme for the treatment of the process water from our mills prior to its discharge to watercourses. This programme is due to be completed by the end of 2010.
The investment over this period for the European paper mills amounts to €24 million, and will allow us to commit to a reduction target of 25% of our COD discharge by 2010 compared to 2005.
Four projects, out of the five initiated in 2008, were completed in 2009 and are running as expected since their commissioning.
A new water treatment plant has been commissioned at our SSK mill in the UK (see insert on page 27), as well as an anaerobic reactor added to the water treatment plant in our mill at Morava (Czech Republic) in March 2009.
The expanded water treatment plant in the Mengibar mill (Spain), started up in November 2009. The investment to upgrade the water treatment of another Spanish paper mill, in Sanguesa, is due to start mid 2010. Sanguesa will be the last investment to be commissioned as part of the €24 million programme defined for the period 2005-2010.
Nevertheless, we shall strive to continuously improve our performance regarding the quality of water we discharge to the environment. In December 2009 a further investment of €3.5 million was approved to expand the water treatment plant of the recycled paper mill at Wrexen in Germany. The expansion includes a new anaerobic reactor and a rebuild of the aerobic stage.
The treatment of the process water used in the mills is either carried out on-site, as is the case in the majority of our mills, or is sub-contracted to an external third party. For the latter, in all disclosures relating to the process water content (COD, BOD, TSS), we report levels in the water discharged by the mills prior to external treatment.
The water intake for the European operations increased slightly compared to the previous year mainly due to the higher usage of water for cooling. Cooling water returns to the environment without any impact on its purity.
In 2009 we made good progress to reach our stated target to reduce our COD discharges in 2010 by 25% compared to 2005. The graph below illustrates the progress made so far in our European mill system. In 2009, we had achieved 13% of COD reduction discharges versus 2005.
The graph also shows the progress made on the other key environment indicators: BOD and TSS. Percentage changes are relative to the base year of 2005.
All water indicators measuring the impact of process water discharges were significantly improved during 2009 compared to the previous year. COD dropped by 16%, BOD by 30% and TSS by 12% compared to the previous year.
The improvements reflect the commissioning of the new treatment plant in one of our UK recycled paper mills and also the full effect of the investments commissioned in 2008. The quality of the water discharges at our kraftliner mill at Piteå in Sweden recovered to a very good level, although there were two small incidents when soap/black liquor seeped into the water. No consequences could be observed but nevertheless action plans have been implemented to ensure no recurrence.
Water discharges in Latin America
Significant improvements have been achieved for our Latin America mill system concerning the COD of the process water discharge. COD reduction was by far the most important target relating to water that we were committed to achieving in 2009.
BOD discharges from our mills increased slightly in 2009 when expressed per tonne of production. This was due to the running of the aerobic treatment facility at the Cali mill.
Excluding Cali, discharges from the remainder of our Latin American mills reduced year on year, well beyond the committed amount.
An investment of US$3.3 million has been approved to build an anaerobic/aerobic water treatment plant in the Bernal mill in Argentina. This will contribute to meeting our commitment of COD, BOD and TSS reduction in Latin America.
Water related data is reported for individual mills in the tables on pages 52, 53 & 55.