APP Pilots New Wastewater Treatment Technologies at Mill in China

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The R&D program, into which APP-China will inject a total investment of 200 million yuan ($32 million), enhances wastewater treatment from chemi-mechanical pulp production with high-grade oxidization technologies. It was selected by the Guangxi Province's Science and Technology Bureau as one of the Key Technology R&D Programs among multi-billion dollar industries in 2012.

Jingui Pulp & Paper is one of APP-China's large-scale mill facilities, which started pulp production in 2011, and is the first enterprise to develop and employ this advanced technology for wastewater treatment in chemi-mechanical pulp production. The process incorporates an alkaline recycling system that distills wastewater and converts organic waste material into energy. At the same time, alkaline residues in the wastewater are recycled and reused, ultimately enhancing energy conservation, emission reduction, and clean production.

By deploying this innovative system, Jingui Pulp & Paper is able to recycle 95% of the water used in chemi-mechanical pulp production. It also enables the company to reuse 93% of alkaline in its wastewater, while conserving energy equivalent to 33,000 metric tons of standard coal each year.

The Jingui Pulp & Paper mill has two production lines—one producing 300,000 metric tpy tons of bleached chemi- thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP) and the other producing some 600,000 metric tpy of high-grade paperboard. Since APP started investing in China in the early 1990s, it has more than 20 pulp and paper mills in the form of subsidiaries or joint ventures, as well as forest plantations with a total area more than 300,000 hectares. With 39,200-plus employees, APP-China had a total production capability of 9.5 million metric tons in 2011.

The photo below is an external view of APP's alkaline recycling facility that is part of Jingui Pulp & Paper's wastewater treatment project in Guangxi Province, China.