Implementation of world’s best practice water recycling technology at a major pulp and paper manufacturing facility.
Project implemented: June 2016
To minimise the volumes of new freshwater input and eliminate the need for any off-site effluent discharge.
As a naturally arid continent, Australia has a need and an obligation to pioneer smarter ways to secure economic growth with enhanced water use efficiency. This project is an exemplar of that goal.
The mill was located within an active farming environment, providing a suitable avenue for water reuse
Investment in water recycling, refining and evaporation technology at the mill, and single vessel digestion treatment
Enhanced farm productivity through managed effluent use for crop production, eliminating the need for off-site discharge
Visy’s Tumut paper mill has set new standards in sustainable Kraft paper manufacturing and environmental performance. The mill has a state-of-the-art closed loop water system where all mill waste water is reused for farm irrigation. As a result the mill is extremely water efficient by world standards. In 2001 it required 6.07 cubic meters of fresh water per tonne of paper produced. But with continuous innovation and investment that water use has progressively dropped to be now 3.27 cubic meters per tonne of paper (per 2016 data comparison). And, unlike most other mills of its type around the world, no effluent leaves the site under normal weather and operating conditions.
