Torraspapel improves wastewater treatment processes in its mills

BARCELONA, Spain, March 31, 2008 (Press Release) - Complying with the stringent European regulations on water quality, Torraspapel, part of the Lecta Group, has substantially improved the quality of the wastewater discharged into the environment, obtaining values below the legally established limits and far below the industry average.

The main parameters that measure the quality of water returned to the environment are its Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS).

Chemical Oxygen Demand is the amount of oxygen required to fully decompose the organic compounds in the water by means of a chemical reaction; the greater the demand, the less oxygen is left for other living organisms in the river or sea in which the effluent is discharged. In the last five years, Torraspapel has drastically reduced the COD values of its discharges, achieving a reduction of approximately 50% in the manufacture of both pulp and paper, dropping from 16.3 to 8.4 COD per ton of pulp manufactured and from 2.2 to 1.1 COD per ton of paper manufactured.

Suspended solids are traces of chemical pulp and minerals. These tiny particles can decrease the amount of sunlight that penetrates into the water in which the wastewater is discharged. The suspended solids discharged by Torraspapel per ton of paper produced have been reduced by 50%, from 0.52 TSS in 2002 to 0.26 TSS in 2006.

It is also worth pointing out that since 2001, 100% of the pulp manufactured by Torraspapel is ECF (Elementary Chlorine Free). By eliminating chlorine gas in the bleaching sequence, we eliminate dioxins from the wastewater discharged, substantially improving its quality.

This achievement is part of Torraspapel's efforts to minimise the environmental impact of its operations, efforts that go well beyond the commitments embraced in its Environmental Report.