Our operations use and have the potential to impact hundreds of millions of litres of fresh water per year. The Pulp & Paper Division and Irving Consumer Products operations use over 64 million m3 per year of surface water, sourced from local lakes and rivers. Process water is treated and released into the environment under strict environmental controls and regulations.

Our sawmills division’s wood and lumber yards have the potential to create runoff and siltation in rivers and in our Woodlands operations, forest roads frequently cross rivers and streams and we constantly work around watercourses.

Our operations are not located in regions of high water stress. Nevertheless, to prepare for a changing climate, reducing water consumption is very important to long-term sustainability.

Irving Pulp and Paper, the company’s largest facility with the highest water use, is currently working on a project to improve effluent quality through enhanced treatment, with construction expected to begin in 2022. As part of the ongoing project, the fresh water use is expected to be reduced by 50 per cent.