Tissue paper plant converted to recycle wood pulp fibres
A former tissue paper plant in Old Town, Maine has been converted into an ultra-modern facility for recycling wood pulp fibres and turning what was once a useless waste product into a valuable raw material.
The mill, built as a sawmill, first opened its doors in 1860. Since then, it has fulfilled a variety of roles, and was a working tissue mill until it was closed by Georgia-Pacific in 2006 and the paper-making machines were removed.
A year later, however, the old mill was purchased by Red Shield Environmental, who planned to transform the facility into a plant for recycling wood pulp and producing biofuel. Sadly, Red Shield went bankrupt soon afterwards, but the next buyer, Patriarch Partners, took on the project and has run with it ever since.
The mill is now producing 600 tons of quality wood pulp every day, which is shipped to locations throughout the US and even exported internationally. Also, as part of the pulp production procedure, the mill has been taking various by-products of the process and distilling them to create eco-friendly biodiesel which can be used for power generation.
Looking to the future, the mill’s owners are hoping to reinstall tissue paper-making machines in the mill, bringing the history of the plant full circle.
