IP Mill Wastes Being Used to Produce First "Trashanol" in Iowa

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In a converted corn ethanol plant 25 min from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA, four-story tanks of organic fiber waste from International Paper Co.'s Cedar River containerboard mill are being converted into fuel-grade ethanol this week. Maryland-based Fiberight LLC has developed a process to convert IP's organic mill waste, as well as other industrial and household waste streams, into valuable renewable fuel.

IP's Cedar River mill produces 1 million tpy of recycled paper for corrugated packaging, made from old corrugated containers (OCC). About 95% of OCC can be recycled into new paper, but the remaining unusable fiber goes into the mill's waste stream. That adds up to some 50,000 tons of residual fiber waste each year. Previously, this residual fiber was sent to local agricultural companies for fertilizer, animal bedding, and other land applications at a cost to IP.

"When Fiberight approached us in late 2008 with their idea for using our residual fiber to process renewable energy, we saw this as a potential win-win for both companies," said Tom Olstad, operations manager at IP's Cedar River mill. "As one of the largest recycled paper mills in the world, recycling and reusing raw materials is a big part of how we operate. Through Fiberight's new facility, we can now be assured that whatever recycled fiber can't be made into new packaging can be used to create green energy, while helping us offset our disposal costs."

In addition, Fiberight will be introducing organic pulps made from residential trash to the plant later this month. The company has spent the past six years designing processes to separate this organic pulp from everyday waste, creating more recyclables and energy from other parts of the waste stream along the way. "You can't just back up a trash truck to a corn ethanol plant and expect fuel to come out the other end," said Fiberight CEO Craig Stuart-Paul. "We undertook extensive modifications to the plant to incorporate our proprietary digestion and fermentation techniques, as well as processes to help convert organic pulps into cellulosic sugars. I'm very pleased to say that these processes worked extremely well, and hats off to our engineering team, APS Engineering, for making this a reality."

Fiberight plans on spending approximately $25 million to fully convert the Blairstown plant and anticipates producing up to 6 million gallons a year of renewable cellulosic ethanol when the plant reaches capacity sometime in 2011. "Our plans include integrating all the process developments we have learned at our Virginia pilot plant into one facility, and demonstrating the ability to create a series of products that bring a higher value to waste than simply disposing of it," Stuart-Paul explained. "However, without the ability to convert the organic fraction (food scraps, packaging waste, diapers, etc.) into fuels, or 'trashanol' as we like to call it, or even biochemicals that can be used to make bio-plastics, the economics don't work."