About
We will be a world leader in delivering outstanding quality pulp and paper products that make our customers successful.
We will excel in quality, employee safety, productivity, and environmental protection.
Howe Sound Pulp and Paper is one of the finest, most efficient kraft pulp and renewal power producers in the world. We invite you to share in our past accomplishments and future success.
We are proud of our place in history—the original Port Mellon mill produced BC’s first wood-fibre based paper in 1909. Since then the mill has continued to distinguish itself by investing in new technologies as they became available. A $1.3 billion modernization and expansion project in the 1990s established Howe Sound as a North American leader in kraft pulp manufacture. Our new ownership, Paper Excellence continues to invest in Howe Sound to ensure it will remain a long-term, competitive supplier to our customers.
Over the last 100 years Howe Sound has grown with the Sunshine Coast community, building a solid reputation for product excellence and ecological stewardship, and contributing to the social fabric of the entire region. Customers regularly rank us as their preferred supplier of fine kraft pulp and quality newsprint—a fact we are proud of but do not take for granted. Our reputation is built one customer at a time, and we look forward to a bright future of contributing to each and every one of our customers’ success stories.
Environmental mission and strategy (ESG)
To protect the environment, we closely control and monitor emissions from the mill.
We are proud to be an industry leader with state-of-the-art environmental protection technology. Howe Sound Pulp and Paper’s ongoing investment in environmental technology allows us to meet and better all current and foreseeable government discharge standards.
Air quality is monitored on an ongoing basis, and we report the results to the public and the Ministry of Environment. Since the Kyoto baseline year of 1990, Howe Sound has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over 50%, more than eight times Canada’s target. According to a 2007 report released by the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), we accomplished the largest reduction in greenhouse gases per tonne of production in the Canadian pulp and paper industry.
In addition, Howe Sound Pulp and Paper has reduced energy use per tonne of product by over 40% since 1990. The mill supplies 80% of its energy needs from an onsite power generation system. This system uses one barge per day of hog fuel (waste wood from the sawmill industry), a bio-fuel that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills.
The mill monitors its effluent discharges and carries out regular studies to determine the impact of its operation on the waters and sea life of Howe Sound. The most recent study compiled from data gathered in 2005 shows that Howe Sound’s current waste-water discharge is having no measurable impact on water quality and fish in the Sound.
Our neighbours and customers can expect us to continue showing leadership and commitment to environmental stewardship.