Special Report No. 73-05: A Survey of Pulp and Paper Industry Environmental Protection Expenditures and Operating Costs – 1972

The attached special report summarizes the findings of the National Council's survey of industry environmental expenditures during 1972 which was conducted during the latter half of 1973. Based on questionnaire information solicited at the corporate level it also contains projections of capital expenditures envisioned for 1973 through 1975. All such capital expenditures are categorized for report purposes among air and water quality protection and solid waste management at the point of primary pulp and paper manufacture. Prepared largely through the efforts of Russell O. Blosser of the National Council staff, with assistance from George Gove of our Northeast Regional Center, and with much valuable comment from Dr. Benjamin Slatin of the American Paper Institute, the report was made possible only by the valued participation of numerous corporate personnel who translated internal data into the format required by our questionnaire. The report itself addresses a number of questions related to the magnitude of such expenditures. With regard to industry capital expenditures, it differentiates the total 1972 expenditures of $339 million along the three environmental protection areas mentioned earlier. It then subdivides those for water quality protection along internal process loss control and external effluent management lines. For the first time the survey addresses the question of the extent to which special amortization, tax relief and financing methods have been employed to assist in financing this extensive capital expenditures program for environmental protection.