The Facts on Canefields Sugar Cane Paper

Sugarcane waste (Bagasse) is one of the most eco-friendly, sustainable, renewable resources suitable for high quality paper making. Sugarcane is grown and used extensively around the world. When the sugarcane is mature, the harvest is sent to a sugar mill at which time the sugar is extracted from the fiber. The sugar is then used for human consumption, however, the fiber is wasted and has, in the past, caused further environmental problems due to burn-off of the fiber as a method of disposal (green house gases are created during the burn-off process).

Canefields /TNPL take the wasted bagasse fiber and uses state of the art technology to create a bagasse pulp suitable for high quality paper making. Our newsprint papers are produced from 100% bagasse fiber, and our high quality office and printing papers have a maximum of 25% Australian eucalypt certified plantation fiber added to ensure that the paper is suitable for all office and print applications. This eucalyptus content is harvested from the mill plantation. Purified mill wastewater is re-used to irrigate the otherwise arid lands surrounding the mill. This area would not be capable of sustaining vegetation, but as a result of the irrigation system, the mill has established a robust eucalyptus plantation. This represents the gold standard in sustainable forestry – creating life where none existed before, instead of removing old-growth forest and replacing it with tree farms. This eucalyptus fiber is added in minimal quantities to enhance quality and performance characteristics such as brightness, sheet stiffness, and moisture balance.

As the sugarcane fiber is grown primarily for sugar and the fiber is retrieved (rather than disposed of) our paper products fall under the following categories:

1. Paper produced from a non-forest resource (alternative fiber)

2. Paper sourced from a renewable resource (crops are constantly renewed for sugar consumption)

3. Paper exceeding environmental parameters set forth by FSC, SFI, and other prominent forest management organizations.

4. Paper exceeding Federal and State government environmental mandates.

Wood fiber based paper can only be recycled a limited number of times due to the degradation of the paper fibers during the recycling process. This issue is already clearly apparent in the carton and packaging industries around the world.The problem does not pose an immediate threat to the recycling process with office paper and stationery as more than 90% of the world’s paper is currently derived from virgin wood fiber. However, over the next decade, as the world turns towards environmental paper solutions and forests are no longer as widely available for paper making, the current recycling processes will no longer be able to continue without the substantial addition of virgin wood fiber from our forests into the recycling process.Canefields Sugarcane Paper is offered as an important, common sense solution to this urgent problem. Our efficient and environmentally friendly use of waste fiber recovered from agricultural activities for the production of high quality, high performance, high capacity office and printing papers takes the pressure off our forests.

Environmental Fact:

Deforestation accounts for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions world-wide, exceeding the global transportation sector.

Canefields - Environmental Policies

Keeping our goals in view, our environmental policies are formulated to:

· Provide a cleaner environment through sustained R&D efforts and continual process improvements.

· Comply with all relevant environmental legislations and regulations.

· Conserve energy, preserve nature, and maximize use of available resources such as energy, water, fuels, and raw material such as bagasse.

· Impart training to promote and motivate other manufacturers to be environmentally responsible.

Water Management

We are constantly striving to conserve fresh water through continuous process optimization, limiting consumption to below 70 cubic meters per metric tonne of paper manufactured, compared to double that for other mills. Waste water from the process is treated in a state of the art effluent treatment system and is used for irrigating more than 2000 acres of farm land surrounding the mill.

Closed Loop Water System with Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) Pulp Bleaching

Our Closed Loop Water System utilizes Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) technology and Oxygen bleaching.

The use of Oxygen bleaching dramatically reduces dioxin levels arising from the ECF process reducing effluent (wastewater)

contaminants to less than 15% compared to normal paper making and as well specific water consumption is reduced by 75%.

Our mill effluent is further purified at the mill owned and operated wastewater treatment facility, and the clean water is then reused for

process water and irrigation applications. This Closed Loop Water System addresses the vital environmental issue with paper manufacturing wastewater.

The process is a key component of our overall operations, helping us to achieve

ISO 14001 Environmental Manufacturer Certification and our World Wildlife Fund Endorsement.

Emissions, Solid Waste, & Green Energy Policies

The mill has adopted cleaner technologies such as Electrostatic Precipators (ESP) to control the emission of suspended solid particles from the boilers which uses agro fuels to help reduce green house gases.

Clean Development Mechanism Projects (CDM)

Harnessing wind energy has always been an important element since inception of our mill more than 20 years ago. We have since increased our wind farm capacity to more than 35 megawatts and will further increase capacity in the years ahead.Our biomethanation plant utilizes methane rich bio gas from waste water from bagasse storage which is then captured to be used in lime kiln - replacing fossil fuel oil. This process not only provides a cost saving on energy but also stops methane gas escaping into the atmosphere.Both of the above initiatives are registered under Clean Development Mechanism with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for carbon credits providing more than 60,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year.

Solid Waste Management

As part of better solid waste management, all bio sludge waste emanating from the mill are collected and sent to our mini cement plant for converting the sludge and fly-ash generated in our chemical recovery plant and power boilers in to high quality cement.

Farm Forestry

We have launched Farm Forestry and plantation schemes to help farmers convert their dry land to cultivable lands. To date, we have raised more than 40,000 acres involving thousands of farmers. Our goal is to raise 500,000 acres by 2020. To assist with this program we have established the Clonal Propagation and Research Centre (CPRC), and this world class facility stands as the largest single operation of its kind in India. This facility produces millions of cloned tree varieties for planting, thus reducing cost on cloned tree varieties while helping farmers earn higher returns.

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed"

- Mahatma Ghandi

CaneFields USA, LLC

EMAIL CANEFIELDS USA
(315) 292-1069