New Manufacturers See Gold in Going Green
Published Jun 27, 2008
Northwest Louisiana has long been the commercial center of the Ark-La-Tex region, with strong roots in logging, oil exploration and agriculture. But upon entering the 21st century, a growing number of area manufacturers are seeing gold in going green.
The latest development showcasing this recent focus on environmentally minded enterprise may be found at the Port of Shreveport-Bossier, the new site of Pratt Industries’ third 100-percent-recycled-paper mill. The country’s seventh-largest paper and packaging company, Pratt Industries will occupy more than 80 acres and will recycle one million tons of old corrugated container and mixed waste paper annually – the equivalent of saving 17 million trees each year. The paper mill is expected to be up and running by November 2008, providing more than 100 full-time jobs on site.
The country’s 99th-largest city beat out Dallas and St. Louis to land the deal with Pratt Industries, thanks in no small part to the planned launch of a curbside recycling program throughout the city.
“The city of Shreveport was much more proactive in the recycled program than the others we spoke with,” says Michael O’Regan, a Pratt Industries spokesman. “Their can-do attitude really brought it all together.”
Environmental nonprofit group Shreveport Green has taken on the responsibility of assembling the more than 65,000 64-gallon recycling bins and rolling them out over the summer.
“We’re going to have a state-of-the-art recycling program,” says Donna Curtis, executive director of Shreveport Green, who predicts a 40 percent participation rate within the first six months and as much 70 percent within a year. “Not only is it going to reduce litter, it’s going to give Shreveport citizens a whole new way of looking at themselves. I’m thinking people are going to look at this program and say, ‘I can do this for the community, without too much of a problem.’ ”
FUTURE HOLDS PROMISE
Recycling is only one facet of the city’s burgeoning environmentalism. Green-minded residents and business owners who are mounting landscaping projects need only turn to EcoMulch & Sod, which has one location in Shreveport and another in Bossier City. The company offers a variety of mulch and sod, landscape rock and edging and draining solutions, with its Shreveport location also accepting wood and concrete for recycling.
The future continues to look bright for Northwest Louisiana on the alternative energy front. Industry leader Dynamotive USA is currently in negotiations with Webster Parish’s North Webster Industrial Park to build a biofuel plant. The plant would convert wood waste products – mostly wood chips measuring two millimeters or smaller – into a liquid fuel called BioOil which, when combusted, produces substantially less smog-precursor nitrogen oxide emissions than conventional oil.
“Is it a done deal? No, but we’re close,” says Mitch Stubblefield, North Webster Industrial Park manager. “As far as standing timber used for wood waste, we have about 843,000 tons within a 60-mile radius. And we’re supported by the state.”
Small wonder: The size of the plant under discussion could produce as much as 225,000 barrels of BioOil per year, a total renewable energy production equivalent of more than 175,000 barrels of crude oil. That’s enough to ensure Northwest Louisiana a leadership position in green energy throughout the South.
Story by Chris Clancy
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