• Guangxi Jingui Pulp & Paper's pioneering waste water treatment project is recognized as a Key Technology R&D Programme by Guangxi Province's Science and Technology Bureau
• This innovative technology represents a remarkable sustainable breakthrough in pulp production in the Asian paper industry
• Gold East Paper mill is also hailed as a leading Energy Efficient and Environment Friendly Company by Chinese government ministries

SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The world's leading pulp and paper manufacturer Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) has been recognized for its use of innovative technologies with Guangxi Jingui Pulp & Paper's waste water treatment project as a Key Technology R&D Programme of China by the Guangxi Province's Science and Technology Bureau¹.

The R&D programme, into which APP-China will inject a total investment of 200 million yuan (USD $32 million), enhances waste water treatment from chemi-mechanical pulp production with high-grade oxidization technologies. It was selected by the Guangxi Province's Science and Technology Bureau as one of the Key Technology R&D Programmes among multi-billion dollar industries in 2012.

Jingui Pulp & Paper is one of APP-China's large-scale mill facilities, which started pulp production in 2011, and it is the first enterprise to develop and employ this advanced technology for waste water treatment in chemi-mechanical pulp production. The process incorporates an alkaline recycling system that distills waste water and converts organic waste material into energy. At the same time, alkaline residues in the waste water are recycled and reused, ultimately enhancing energy conservation, emission reduction and clean production.

By deploying this innovative system, Jingui Pulp & Paper is able to recycle 95% of the water used in chemi-mechanical pulp production. It also enables the company to reuse 93% of alkaline in its waste water, while conserving energy equivalent to 33,000 tons of standard coal each year.

China has enjoyed a rapid growth in chemi-mechanical pulp production in recent years, bearing witness to a rising number of high-yield pulp manufacturers that are committed to increasingly stringent environmental standards. Jingui Pulp & Paper's officially recognized R&D project is a major step for the industry toward achieving low emission and chemical fluids recycling for single chemi-mechanical pulp production, representing a breakthrough in the Asian paper industry.

In addition to this, another one of APP-China's major mills - Gold East Paper - was also hailed as one of the leading Energy Efficient and Environment Friendly Companies in China, along with another 79 business organizations. This is an official recognition that aims to identify corporations excelling in environmentally-friendly practices within industrial sectors, following appraisals conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Furthermore, APP-China's Jinhai Pulp & Paper is the first business unit in Hainan Province that has successfully met the requirements of the Special Inspection of Prevention of Marine Pollution. Jinhai has invested strong efforts to protect the coastal environment in which it operates, particularly on the prevention of oil spills. It has deployed a team that conducts 24-hour patrols on Jinhai's piers seven days a week to ensure all ships are berthed soundly and without collisions to avoid oil leakage. Security facilities including navigation marks, collision chocks and terminal rail guards are examined on a regular basis as well.

These developments demonstrate that the pulp and paper sector has tremendous potential to be environmentally friendly across its operations while ensuring robust growth.

Sophy Huang, PR Director of APP-China, said, "Cleaner production is one of the three key sustainable pledges APP-China strictly follows in our operations, in addition to sustainable plantation management and corporate social responsibility. The next four to five years will be a critical period for China's paper industry to overcome the challenges raised by the lack of raw materials as the industry strives to reduce environmental pollution. Sustainability will be the prime focus of China's paper industry going forward, and only by developing business operations in a sustainable manner can China's paper industry hope to take a leading role in the world."

About APP-China

Registered in Singapore in October 1994, Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) is one of the world's leading pulp and paper companies and is ranked one of the largest vertically-integrated pulp and paper producers in Asia. Since APP started investing in China in the early 1990s, it has over 20 pulp and paper mills in the form of subsidiaries or joint ventures, as well as forest plantations with a total area over 300,000 hectares. With over 39,200 employees, APP-China had a total production capability of 9.5 million tons in 2011. By the end of 2011, APP-China had spent RMB 6 billion (USD $937.5 million) in environmental protection facilities and RMB 600 million (USD $93.75 million) in various charitable causes and community development projects across the country. For more information, please visit www.app.com.cn.

¹ The Guangxi Province's Science and Technology Bureau is a bureau under the Ministry of Science and Technology of People's Republic of China, a ministry of government which coordinates and regulates science and technology activities in the country.

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Contacts

APP-China
July Cheng, (86 21) 6335 2222 (ext. 7538)
Julycheng@app.com.cn

The inspection team conducting an evaluation of ship berthing measures at the piers of Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP-China) Jinhai Pulp & Paper facility in Hainan Province. (Photo: Business Wire)

Scenery from Asia Pulp & Paper's (APP-China) Gold East Paper Ecological Park on the Port of Zhenjiang. (Photo: Business Wire)

External view of Asia Pulp & Paper's (APP-China) alkaline recycling facility that is part of Jingui Pulp & Paper's award-winning waste water treatment project in Guangxi Province, China. (Photo: Business Wire)