Weyerhaeuser has reduced its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent since 2000, but its GHG intensity increased by about 20 percent in that time, according to the company’s 2010 sustainability performance results.
The report said that the intensity increase was primarily due to the inefficiencies of mills that have been operating at reduced capacity. However, intensity did fall in 2010 versus 2009 levels, while absolute GHG emissions rose in that year – from 1.58 million to 1.71 million metric tons of CO2e for direct emissions, and from 1.18 million to 1.23 for indirect.
The company has a goal of a 40 percent absolute GHG reduction by 2020, from a 2000 baseline.
“Our efforts are reducing Weyerhaeuser's greenhouse gas emissions footprint,” the report said. “…Since 2008, our greenhouse gas emissions reductions have primarily resulted from the combined effect of operations consolidation in our higher efficiency mills, and lower levels of production.
“In 2010, this trend continued, with the majority of our reduction coming from operations that have been closed or temporarily curtailed due to the economic downturn. If production increases as business conditions improve in future years, we may see our total greenhouse gas emissions increase when compared with 2010," the report added.
In 2010 the company achieved a 16 percent reduction in water use at its cellulose fiber mills, versus 2007 levels, on its way to a 20 percent reduction by 2012.
The report said that last year, 98 percent of Weyerhaeuser’s timberlands were certified to sustainability standards.
The lumber and paper company set a number of new goals in 2010, including a 20 percent energy efficiency improvement from 2009 levels by 2020, and adopting green building standards for new company-owned manufacturing sites and office buildings.
Other goals, without specified target dates, include reducing air emissions, solid waste to landfills, and wastewater pollutant discharges, all by ten percent across the company compared to 2010 levels.
