"A key part of Sonoco's culture is our commitment to sustainability, including our dedication to improving the environment and our contributions to the future of the communities in which we operate," said Sonoco President and CEO Jack Sanders. "This boiler is proof of that commitment."
"We took more than two years to complete final engineering, fabricate the boiler, put together the infrastructure and complete construction of what we believe to be one of the nation's most state-of-the-art biomass co-generation boiler systems."
In 2011 Sonoco committed to a $75 million investment to replace two aging, coal-fired boilers and add the new biomass boiler at its plant in Hartsville. The new boiler is fueled primarily by woody biomass from regional logging activity, but can also run on natural gas. The boiler will produce about 16 megawatts of green energy that will be consumed by the manufacturing complex, as well as steam that is used in the paper making process.
Sonoco is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services.