OPAL Australian Paper is confident that the Maryvale Mill will be able to meet the demands of the federal government’s intensified climate policy.
Maryvale is included in the federal Labor government’s upgraded ‘safeguard mechanism’ policy, which is an integral part of its broader climate action.
Created in 2016 by the former Coalition government, the safeguard mechanism gives the federal government powers to enforce caps on the nation’s 215 biggest emitters of carbon dioxide. The benchmark is industrial sites that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.
The Coalition argued that technology was the best way to cut emissions and thus did not set emission reduction targets. However, the changes announced last week by the Climate Change and Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, mean that from July 1, the biggest emitters will have to cut their carbon footprint 30 per cent by 2030.
In Victoria, 18 industrial enterprises are affected. In Gippsland, apart from Maryvale, this includes ExxonMobil’s Gippsland Basin gas project – the state’s heaviest emitter – and BlueScope’s Western Port steelworks.
An Opal spokesman said the Maryvale site had been covered under the safeguard mechanism since it came into effect in 2016.
“Opal is aligned with the Australian government’s emission targets,” he said.
“As a business, we’re focussed on progressively reducing our environmental footprint, with a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 45 per cent by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.”
The spokesman said Opal was focussed on the principles of the circular economy.
“We are committed to reduce waste through reuse and recycling. We will also continue to transition our energy use to renewable resources,” he said.
At Maryvale, 20,205 tonnes of brown recycled fibre produced 17,004 tonnes of recycled brown pulp, while 37,456 tonnes of white recycled fibre produced 18,571 tonnes of recycled white deinked pulp, the company’s figures show.
The spokesman said packaging was an integral part of its sustainability targets. This approach included 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025; and 60 per cent of average recycled content, as defined by FSC and PEFC certifications, to be included in fibre-based packaging by 2025.
Also, the aim was to minimise problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging by 2025, he said.
Opal’s research team was aiming to eliminate, redesign and/or replace single-use plastic with fibre-based packaging.
In 2022, Opal and JBS Foods created a 100 per cent recyclable corrugated carboard dunnage solution that won gold in the Sustainable Packaging Design of the Year industrial subcategory at the 2022 Australian Packaging and Innovation Design Awards.
The spokesman said Opal already procured 26 per cent of its electricity from the Lal Lal wind farm in Moorabool Shire near Ballarat.
“Opal operates the largest baseload renewable electricity generator in Victoria, powered by biomass,” he said, as well as a biogas generator in NSW.
Maryvale’s baseload energy is produced through its kraft pulping process, which produces black liquor as a renewable energy resource. In 2021, the Maryvale site produced 567,177 tonnes of black liquor for steam production, meeting 56 per cent of the mill’s thermal energy needs.
Of the total Opal Group’s electricity usage of about 900,000 megawatt hours, 52 per cent was generated from renewable resources – 26 per cent from the wind farms and 26 per cent from renewable biomass fuels onsite.
“Opal is investigating multiple green energy projects to form part of Opal’s electricity supply solution into the future,” the spokesman said.
Energy intensity in fibre packaging had fallen by 5-10 per cent since 2017.
“With a target of one per cent efficiency improvement year on year to 2030.
Opal’s 2022 Sustainability Report noted that 92 per cent of the company’s wood and fibre products came from suppliers certified by the world’s two main certification bodies – PEFC and FSC.
The report said in 2021, 78 per cent of the Maryvale and Botany inputs were plantation wood and recycled fibre
Fifty-four per cent plantation and 24 per cent recycled.
Of the rest, 18 per cent was from state forests and four per cent hardwood sawmill residues.
“Opal is committed to the long-term transition of its Maryvale operation to 100 per cent plantation wood and recycled fibre supply,” the report said.
The sustainability report emphasised the importance of Maryvale’s Energy from Waste project. The $600 million plant aims to create jobs in the Latrobe Valley and secure the mill’s future energy needs.
It will divert about 325,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from landfill and reuse it to generate steam and electricity to replace natural gas and coal-fired electricity.
The plant will reduce Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 270,00 tonnes per annum, which would give a net energy benefit of gas and electricity to power more than 50,000 homes, the report says.
