Kruger receives Green Innovation Award

November 22, 2013

Kruger Inc. proudly announces that it was presented with the 2013 Green Innovation Award at the 23rd Gala of the Association pour le développement de la recherche et de l'innovation du Québec (Québec Association for research and innovation development – ADRIQ) held in Montréal on November 21, 2013. The award was given to Kruger’s Publication Papers Division in recognition of a project that reuses fly ash produced by the cogeneration plant at its newsprint mill in Brompton, Québec.

The Brompton Mill has been producing electricity and steam from paper residue and other biomass sources at its cogeneration plant since 2007. This highly green process significantly reduces the Mill’s GHG emissions.

Managers at Kruger’s cogeneration plant worked on this research project in partnership with the University of Sherbrooke’s Civil Engineering Department for three years in order to find an alternative for reusing cogeneration fly ash.

The project, funded by the Québec Ministry of Natural Resources and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, demonstrated that cogeneration fly ash could be used as a cement alternative for various industrial applications. The researchers showed that up to 20% of cement could be replaced with fly ash for making concrete, without compromising the finished product’s quality or durability.

Not only does this discovery open the way to substantial savings for concrete manufacturers, but it has also helped to significantly reduce the amount of landfilled waste.

To date, the Brompton facility is the first and only facility in Québec and Canada that has had cogeneration fly ash certified as a cement substitute.

ADRIQ gives Kruger the 2013 “Green Innovation” award for its Brompton mill’s fly ash reuse project. From left to right: Jean-Louis Legault, Chief Executive Officer, Association pour le développement de la recherche et de l'innovation du Québec (Québec Association for research and innovation development – ADRIQ); Luc Michel, Services Director, Brompton Mill, Kruger; René Hamel, Environment Coordinator, Brompton Mill, Kruger; Balázs Tolnai, General Manager ̶ Technology, Industrial Products Division, Kruger; Gérald St-Aubin, Vice-President, Investment Fund and Strategic Support, Desjardins; and Albert De Luca, Tax Partner, Deloitte. (Picture: NH Photographes Ltée)