Environment
Water Management
Cherishing Water Resources
Water is a crucial resource in the papermaking industry. When evaluating and selecting production sites, CLC carefully plans water resource usage. This includes considering policies and regulations, business development, and the water needs of surrounding residents.
Goal for 2030: Cumulative Reduction of Water Usage per Unit of Paper Products by 10%
We are committed to enhancing water resource efficiency through diversified water sources, stringent management, and innovative water-saving solutions. Our company has also developed a digital PDCA water resource management system to further improve management efficiency:
• Self-Management: The system displays hourly well water and water usage by each unit.
• Water Rights Control: A warning notification system is designed for when water usage exceeds 90% of the well's water rights.
• Anomaly Check: The system proactively alerts and prompts improvements for units with abnormal increases in water usage.
At CLC mills/plants, each drop of water can be reused up to 26 times, with a process water recovery rate reaching up to 96.3%, maximizing water resource benefits. In 2023, the water usage per unit of paper products in the paper business unit decreased by 8.46% compared to the previous year, and by 10.9% compared to the baseline year 2019. The company invested a total of NT$1.01 billion in enhancing water resource management and improving facilities in 2023, including the installation of anaerobic treatment equipment (including a biogas power generation system) and the addition of a tertiary treatment system, thus upgrading water resource management comprehensively. The anaerobic treatment system at the flagship Houli Mill was also successfully trialed in 2023 Q4.
To increase recycled water usage, the tertiary filtration and recycling water system at our Chupei Mill has been successfully activated, and the gravity screening and water filtration system at the Houli Mill was activated in Q1. In 2023, recycled water usage accounted for 12% of the total water intake company-wide, with a 6% annual increase.
All CLC mills/plants are equipped with the wastewater treatment system to continuously monitor the quality of the effluent and ensure that the quality of the effluent meets the legal standards. CLC also continues to improve wastewater treatment operations. In 2023, a total of NT$25.7 million was invested to enhance the performance of treatment equipment, including pre-treatment and optimization measures for suspended solids (SS) in biological system equipment. We comprehensive control the conditions of process water to improve water treatment efficiency and ensure the compliance of effluent, in order to maintain nature and ecosystems, nourish biodiversity, and fix carbon to mitigate the greenhouse effect.
Groundwater, river water (surface water), and tap water are CLC’s major water sources, which are mainly for production. Besides setting up the rainwater harvest system for resource cultivation for the paper mills, we implement graded management of process water with technologies including the white water reclamation system, ultrafiltration white water system, effluent reclamation system for water reclamation, recycling, and reuse to minimize water consumption. To manage water more efficiently, every year we complete the water balance data according to the water consumption plan of the Water Resources Agency. We also install smart meter at some paper mills to keep track on water information through computer connection.
In 2023, surface water and groundwater made up about 97.4% of total water intake, with tap water at 2.6%. Total water intake was approximately 16,480 million liters, down by 1,172 million liters from 2022. Total water consumption, after accounting for wastewater discharge, was 2,737 million liters.
The company manages water sources based on indicators from the Water Resources Agency. During reduced supply or regional rationing, it reduces water use according to regulations. Assessments show minimal impact from high-pressure water areas in Taiwan, China, and Vietnam. In response to reduced tap water supply, the company: (1) adjusts tap water use or recycles effluents, (2) replaces some fresh water with recycled effluents, and (3) optimizes processes and implements water-saving models to ease resource pressure.
Effluent
We equip each plant and mill with an independent wastewater treatment system. The Containerboard Division and Household Products and Paperboard Division properly treat wastewater with biological treatment to ensure the effluent quality meets the relevant standards. Also, we keep implementing QC-recorder at the wastewater treatment plant to control the process water situation, in order to make optimal treatment. The box plants treat wastewater with physicochemical treatment and recover treated wastewater for use in rinsing and glue making to extensively reduce water consumption.
