Almost all the water that Stora Enso uses for pulp, paper and board manufacturing is taken from rivers and lakes. Surface water sources accounted for 97% of the Group’s water use in 2004. The total amount of groundwater used by Stora Enso was further reduced in 2004. Water from lakes and rivers is particularly widely used in North America and in the Nordic countries, where surface water resources are abundant. In Continental Europe, where surface water resources are scarcer, process water is supplemented with groundwater to a higher degree.
One example of a mill that has reduced its use of groundwater is Corbehem Mill. Since April 2004, Corbehem Mill has phased out the use of groundwater, and instead used more water from the River Scarpe in compliance with local regulations. The mill’s power plant previously used about 400 000 m3 of groundwater annually to produce purified water for steam production. The mill began to take water from the river after the completion of a new power plant fuelled by natural gas.
Using less
Stora Enso’s overall aim is to reduce the total use of water, and to use water more efficiently. Over the last ten years the Group’s specific water use per tonne of production has decreased 15%.
At Kimberly Mill, for instance, practical improvements have reduced specific process water use by 31% since 2000.
