NewPage has announced that its Stevens Point specialty paper mill has achieved recognition as a 2014 Green Masters Award winner. With the award, NewPage joins a select group of leading companies being recognized by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council for significant and ongoing sustainability practices.

The Green Masters Award is the highest tier attainable in this competitive process and is only made available to participants scoring in the top 20% of program applicants. NewPage received the award on December 3 at the 7th Annual Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council Conference in Milwaukee, WI, USA.

The NewPage Stevens Point mill was judged on a comprehensive range of nine sustainability topics, including energy and waste management, as well as educational and community outreach.

The Stevens Point mill produces specialty papers for food, beverage and consumer goods applications. The mill is constantly striving to improve internal processes and has invested in continuous improvement methodology that has led to several successful sustainability projects.

“We are proud to receive the Green Masters designation,” says John Reichert, Stevens Point mill manager. “The Stevens Point mill challenges itself to be a leader within our industry and community in the areas of environmental practices and sustainability. This recognition places our facility within the ranks of many well respected Wisconsin organizations, and validates our ongoing efforts toward being a responsible manufacturer of specialty paper.”

Stevens Point mill has made the following sustainability efforts: New product development of EcoPoint beverage label and UniTherm thermal transfer label papers resulted in a 7% and 14% reduction in product weight, which allows more product to ship to customers with less trucks, without compromising label performance; nearly 84% of location shipments utilize the US Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay transportation partners; energy conservation projects resulted in a 5.8% year-over-year reduction in energy usage; water conservation projects resulted in a 6.3% year-over-year reduction in water usage; waste reduction projects resulted in a 7.5% year-over-year waste volume reduction.

“At NewPage, sustainability is integral in our approach to everything we do,” says Ed Buehler, vice president of sales, marketing and business development for specialty papers. “We strive to continuously minimize our environmental impact and maintain a business approach that fosters sustainability. The Green Masters designation is a testament to the extensive sustainability initiatives that we have implemented at NewPage, which we will continue to put into place at our Stevens Point mill.  This award demonstrates our ongoing commitment to doing what’s right for our employees, our customers, our communities and the environment.”