Air, Water, Waste & By-products
West Fraser is focused on the careful and trusted stewardship of all resources. We continue to set targets, find innovative solutions and continuously improve our performance on resource efficiency and waste reduction.
Air
Air quality and air management is crucial to the communities surrounding our operating areas.
Our operations are committed to continuous air management improvement, and we have set targets established to drive improved performance. Air emissions are generated through activities that include drying processes in our engineered wood and lumber kilns and biomass or fossil fuel combustion systems that provide heat and electrical energy for our manufacturing processes. We also monitor emissions from transport, material handling, bleaching processes and owned landfills.
All emissions sources are authorized by respective regulatory agencies to meet applicable air quality standards.
Water
Water, a vital natural resource, is carefully managed in our woodlands and manufacturing operations and we operate under strict regulations regarding the protection of water courses.
All of our emissions sources are authorized by respective regulatory agencies to meet applicable air quality standards, and we are continuing to prioritize air quality through our emissions reduction targets.
We monitor and manage our effluent discharge quality, as well as work to reduce water consumption at higher water-use operations like our pulp and paper mills. Key indicators used to evaluate the quality of effluent discharge include total suspended solids (TSS) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
Waste & By-products
West Fraser uses 99% of each log we process. When we process trees into solid wood, pulp and paper, we create beneficial by-products that are valuable energy sources. We continue to explore new ways to use wood by-products, and this is an important way that the company is minimizing waste.
We strive to derive the highest value from the wood fibre used in our processing and manufacturing operations, maximizing fibre utilization and recovery. By making the most efficient use of renewable natural resources, reducing waste and improving recovery, we enhance the circularity of our manufacturing processes.
On average, we use 99% of each log—whether it is turned into a wood product, panel, pulp, a different beneficial product or employed in a bioenergy system.
Sawdust and shavings from our lumber mills supply our MDF plants, or they can be transformed into fuel and energy to run our mills. They can also be sold for agricultural purposes.
Wood chips and the wood cores from our lumber, plywood and veneer operations are used to make pulp. Even the heat, steam and gases that develop during our manufacturing processes can be captured to provide energy to our mills.
Particleboard in the EU is manufactured from about 70% Post-Consumer Wood Waste, higher up the hierarchy of use than energy.
Management Approach
We use advanced technology to minimize waste, optimize our production and operate efficiently. Every log entering our mills is scanned to maximize material recovery and determine the ideal mix of sustainable wood product solutions. Our commitment to continual innovation and improvement, along with advanced automation and modern optimization technology, helps us make better milling decisions and recover more of a log for lumber than was previously possible.
We seek opportunities to innovate and improve our recovery and use of wood residuals to reduce the volume of material that goes into the waste stream. Due to the diversified nature of our operations, each site has a different mixture of products that ends up in the waste and recycling streams.
Contaminated Wood Waste
Wood waste can be contaminated by mud, rock or metal, making it unsuitable for energy or manufacturing purposes. Where possible, we separate the materials—e.g., rock, fibre and soil—to repurpose them into components used in our production processes. This includes using viable fibre to generate energy on-site. We will continue to explore innovative opportunities in 2022 to both reduce our volumes of contaminated wood waste and identify ways to treat contaminated waste at our locations.
Recycling
Our facilities operate recycling programs that enable West Fraser to track, re-use and recycle consumable products, allowing us to reduce waste. Where recycling programs exist, other more significant sources of waste (e.g., waste metal and packaging) are also managed and can include the re-use of materials and supplier take-back programs. These programs include standard recyclables such as office paper and cardboard and various materials used in our offices, machine shops and equipment.