J.D. Irving paper mill to install biomass boiler

June 3,
2010, Utopia, NB – J.D. Irving Ltd. (JDI)'s Lake Utopia Paper mill in Utopia,
New Brunswick, will receive $22 million in funding under the Pulp and Paper
Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) to increase its capacity to produce clean
energy and decrease its reliance on fossil fuels. To improve Lake Utopia
Paper's environmental performance, JDI is installing a biomass boiler that will
be fuelled by wood waste from the company's forestry operations in New
Brunswick. The new boiler will provide enough steam to fulfill the energy needs
of the mill, reducing the mill's reliance on fossil fuels to power its
manufacturing operations and lowering greenhouse gas emission by more than
66,000 tonnes/year. The increase in renewable energy production from wood waste
will displace the equivalent of 180,000 barrels of fossil fuel.

The PPGTP
investment will cover the majority of this $32.9-million project. The remaining
project expenses will be covered by a $10.8-million repayable loan from the
government of New Brunswick, along with a $500,000 grant from Efficiency NB.

"We
appreciate the commitment of the federal and provincial governments to securing
hundreds of good-paying forest sector jobs at this mill and in the woodlands
that supply this site," says Jim Irving, president of J.D. Irving
Ltd. "These investments in energy efficiency are good for business
and the environment and are also providing over 150,000 person hours of work to
more than 25 local contractors — almost $12 million in local New Brunswick
purchases.”

JDI is
one of 24 pulp and paper companies across Canada that qualified for credits
under the $1-billion program based on production levels of black liquor in
2009.