Where clouds are made

When I have kids of an impressionable age, I will take them down to Milton Ave on a cold day like today, and tell them that this is where clouds are made...


Solvay Paperboard steam exhaust

From the company website:

Solvay Paperboard was literally raised from the ashes. The company was founded in 1994 on the former site of an abandoned chemical plant that produced soda ash. This “brownfield” site is located in the Village of Solvay, a suburb of Syracuse, New York. This site was deemed ideal for several reasons - it offered low cost hydroelectric power, an existing cogeneration facility was located across the street, and it was strategically located in a major northeastern metropolitan area ensuring a steady source of recycled fiber.

From Siemens:

Teamwork and technology have allowed the plant to produce 320-plus tons of paper per day, using a forest worth of bales made from old corrugated containers bought from companies and communities around neighboring cities. Working closely with its contractors, Solvay began making paper only 14 months after construction began.

Compared to virgin wood facilities, a recycling operation uses far fewer chemicals and so it lacks most of the smells and environmental hazards normally associated with paper production. “It is conservation and environmental sensitivity at its finest. We’re harvesting the urban forest,” says John Telesca, Project Manager for the site and a Vice President for Southern Container Corp. Telesca says that from the outset his company’s primary concern has been for the community and the environment.

From AMEC:

The project ultimately helped our client exceed their production and environmental goals. As a result, Solvay Paperboard’s newly expanded mill in Syracuse, New York is one of the industry’s most efficient consumers of water in North America.”

[snip]

Since start-up, the paper machine was already operating above design production levels at high efficiency with very low off-specification production. AMEC introduced an innovative water recycling facility that allows the effluent from Solvay’s two other machines to be used as process water for the new one. As a result, Solvay is able to reduce its effluent from the overall facility by 400,000 gallons per day. That is 400,000 gallons per day less than when only two paper machines were operating – quite an achievement.

(emphasis mine)

Solvay Paperboard is a company that our community can be proud of. I would like to hear more about the companies environmental practices. Anyone have any connections to the company? Email me at geddesblog [at] yahoo [dot] com.