GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay Packaging says it is on its way to becoming the “most environmentally-friendly paper mill in the U.S.”
Company leaders, along with Brown County and Green Bay officials announced today (Mon), the mill turned off its coal fire boilers and is running on all-natural gas.
During the news conference, Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach says it will reduce the mill’s emissions by 90%.
The change is part of Green Bay Packaging’s plan to build an environmentally-friendly $500 million facility on the same site as its current 71-year-old mill.
During a statement on FOX 11 Green Bay Packaging executive vice president Bryan Hollenbach called this an exciting time.
“We are very, very confident we are going to be right on schedule, just like we have so far. Shutting that coal fire boiler down on the exact date that we planned out over a year ago, it’s pretty impressive, we’re pretty happy with that. In any project like this, you have key milestones you have to hit and we’ve hit everyone so far, we’ve hit right on the right date, so despite tough weather and some other challenges that you have in any other project, we’ve been able to stay right on schedule.”
The new mill will have several other environmentally-friendly features including the use of recycled paper in its products and plans to use treated wastewater in its production process and not release any wastewater into the Fox River.
The city of Green Bay requested the state to issue $150 million in industrial revenue bonds.
Construction on the new mill began in August of 2018 and anticipated to be complete in 2021.
The new mill is expected to preserve more than 1,100 jobs in Brown County and create an additional 200 full-time jobs at Green Bay Packaging across the state of Wisconsin.
