Environmental Stewardship
Finch Paper adopted an environmentally conscious approach to forestry over 100 years ago. By integrating a sustainable forestry program, green power generation, and elemental chlorine-free paper production, Finch is a leader in high-quality, environmentally responsible paper markets.
Finch Paper’s environmental stewardship started in 1910 when the founders of our company recognized the papermaking business could only be sustained with healthy forests. They hired one of the nation’s first professional foresters, Howard Churchill, to ensure the perpetual health of the forests – a tradition carried on today through the strict use of responsibly-managed fiber sources in all our products.
Two-thirds of the energy Finch Paper uses is made on-site with renewable biomass and zero-emission hydroelectric.
All of the virgin pulp used at Finch Paper is elemental chlorine-free. The post-consumer recycled fiber used in grades such as Finch Casa Opaque and Finch Fine®, is process chlorine-free.
SUSTAINABLE FORESTS
Responsible fiber sourcing is core to our environmental stewardship program. We deeply care about sustaining forest health, protecting water resources, and maintaining biological diversity. None of the pulp used to make Finch Paper comes from endangered or threatened forests. We have a stringent chain-of-custody program in place to track the sources of our fiber and ensure that it comes from legal, responsibly managed forests.
We are proud of our long-standing fiber souring program and offer products certified to meet the standards of both the Forest Stewardship Council® (RA-COC-000253) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (PwC-SFICOC-293).
Green Energy
Green power can be described as electricity produced in an environmentally friendly manner from sources that include the sun, wind and water. Approximately two-thirds of the energy Finch Paper’s paper machines use is green power — it comes from renewable sources.
Finch Paper has been using emission-free, renewable hydropower since 1938. This green power technology started with a water wheel in the late 1800s and has grown to account for 88% of the world’s renewable electricity.
Finch also operates its own cogeneration facility, which converts biomass (bark, sawdust and rejected wood chips) into steam that powers our equipment.
Clean Air And Water
Finch Paper is 100-percent compliant with the 2016 Clean Air Act amendment, Boiler MACT (maximum achievable control technology). In addition to using clean fuel, Finch prevents 50 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year from being released into the environment. We capture this greenhouse gas for use in making precipitated calcium carbonate, a brightening agent for our paper.