Smart Papers banks on $30M biomass investment

Hamilton-based Smart Papers has begun construction on a $30 million cogeneration facility that will allow them to move away from the use of fossil fuels in powering its manufacturing operations.

By producing its own energy, the company believes that they will not only gain a marketing advantage, but will also hold down the rising raw materials costs that pushed them into bankruptcy in 2006.

It is expected that the conversion of yard, industrial and fiber waste to power will pay for itself within seven years of completion, and by late 2010 the company plans to sell excess energy throughout Ohio and the Midwest.

Smart Papers chairman Tim Needham tells IndustryWeek that the company will be the first North American company and only the second in the world to move to 100 percent biomass for its power generation needs.

Read the full article here.
Enjoy this story? Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.