Combined Locks, Wisconsin – Appleton Coated has been selected as the winner in the 2015 Earth Day Sustainable Business Awards for Sustainable Product.

“Appleton Coated was chosen from a very high-quality field of nominees, and the judges were very impressed by your accomplishments, performance and your commitment to sustainability,” said Tom Eggert, executive director of the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council.

Company representatives were recognized at an awards ceremony held at Briggs & Stratton in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin April 29th.

Says Jeff Alderton, project manager, “Our customers desired to increase the amount of post-consumer recycled fiber (PCRF) in the products they manufacture with our paper. Through process and design changes, Appleton Coated met their needs and is producing the majority of their papers with 50% PCRF versus the old standard of 10% PCRF,” he continues,

“The following positive environmental impact is achieved by switching from 10% PCRF to 50% PCRF for 1000 tons of paper:  

   - 8,000 trees saved,

   - 3594 million fewer BTU's of energy (equivalent to 40 homes per year),

   - 345 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions reduced (equivalent to taking 63 cars off the road per year)

   - 3.7 million gallons less water used (5 Olympic sized swimming pools)

   - 125 tons of solid waste reduction (9 garbage trucks).”

Source: Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator Version 3.2. For more information visit www.papercalculator.org.

Adds Ann Whalen, senior vice president marketing and customer services, “This recognition by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council clearly shows how our ongoing efforts to develop greener products for our customers resonates with the business and environmental communities. We continue to adapt our processes and capabilities to meet the increasing demand for printing papers with higher levels of PCRF. We strive to increase awareness of how product choices can impact the environment, we encourage the increased use of high PCRF grades and we are committed to meeting those demands in the future”

The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council developed The Earth Day Business Sustainability Awards. The awards were offered for the first time in 2014, and honor businesses for their leadership in developing innovative products, processes, and business models while demonstrating that economic performance and environmental and social performance go hand-in-hand.

Appleton Coated has been a Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council Green Master Award winner for the last four years and is the first coated mill to be Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) (FSC® C007796) certified in North America. The company’s sustainability efforts also include lowering overall fossil fuel usage by substituting biomass for coal and by purchasing 20% of its electricity as Green-e® certified renewable energy credits, or RECs.