Winner of the 2021 Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award Winner of the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Nonfiction Finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics John Leonard Prize for Best First Book Finalist for the 2021 New England Society Book Award Finalist for the 2021 New England Independent Booksellers Association Award A New York Times Editors’ Choice and Chicago Tribune top book for 2020 “Mill Town is the book of a lifetime; a deep-drilling, quick-moving, heartbreaking story. Scathing and tender, it lifts often into poetry, but comes down hard when it must. Through it all runs the river: sluggish, ancient, dangerous, freighted with America’s sins.” —Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland Kerri Arsenault grew up in the small, rural town of Mexico, Maine, where for over 100 years the community orbited around a paper mill that provided jobs for nearly everyone in town, including three generations of her family. Kerri had a happy childhood, but years after she moved away, she realized the price she paid for that childhood. The price everyone paid. The mill, while providing the social and economic cohesion for the community, also contributed to its demise. Mill Town is a book of narrative nonfiction, investigative memoir, and cultural criticism that illuminates the rise and collapse of the working-class, the hazards of loving and leaving home, and the ambiguous nature of toxics and disease with the central question; Who or what are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?

Pulp and paper mill industries are always associated with the disposal problem of highly contaminated sludge or bio-solids. The development of innovative systems to maximize recovery of useful materials and/or energy in a sustainable way has become necessary. The management of wastes, in particular of industrial waste, in an economically and environmentally acceptable manner is one of the most critical issues facing modern industry, mainly due to the increased difficulties in properly locating disposal works and complying with even more stringent environmental quality requirements imposed by legislation. This book presents a general Introduction on waste management in the pulp and paper industry and contains topics on the generation of waste in pulp and paper mills, waste composition, methods of sludge pre-treatment, processes and technologies for conversion of pulp and paper mill waste into valuable products, waste reduction techniques employed in the pulp and paper Industry worldwide and future trends.

Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics is a corporate-focused analysis that brings clarity and practicality to the complex issues of environmental metrics in industry. The book examines the metrics implications to businesses as their responsibilities expand beyond the factory gateâ€"upstream to suppliers and downstream to products and services. It examines implications that arise from greater demand for comparability of metrics among businesses by the investment community and environmental interest groups. The controversy over what sustainable development means for businesses is also addressed. Industrial Environmental Performance Metrics identifies the most useful metrics based on case studies from four industriesâ€"automotive, chemical, electronics, and pulp and paperâ€"and includes specific corporate examples. It contains goals and recommendations for public and private sector players interested in encouraging the broader use of metrics to improve industrial environmental performance and those interested in addressing the tough issues of prioritization, weighting of metrics for meaningful comparability, and the longer term metrics needs presented by sustainable development.

Pulp and Paper Industry: Chemical Recovery examines the scientific and technical advances that have been made in chemical recovery, including the very latest developments. It looks at general aspects of the chemical recovery process and its significance, black liquor evaporation, black liquor combustion, white liquor preparation, and lime reburning. The book also describes the technologies for chemical recovery of nonwood black liquor, as well as direct alkali regeneration systems in small pulp mills. In addition, it includes a discussion of alternative chemical recovery processes, i.e. alternative causticization and gasification processes, and the progress being made in the recovery of filler, coating color, and pigments. Furthermore, it discusses the utilization of new value streams (fuels and chemicals) from residuals and spent pulping liquor, including related environmental challenges. - Offers thorough and in-depth coverage of scientific and technical advances in chemical recovery in pulp making - Discusses alternative chemical recovery processes, i.e., alternative causticization and gasification processes - Covers the progress being made in the recovery of filler, coating color, and pigments - Examines utilization of new value streams (fuels and chemicals) from residuals and spent pulping liquor - Discusses environmental challenges (air emissions, mill closure) - Presents ways in which the economics, energy efficiency, and environmental protection associated with the recovery process can be improved

This book features in-depth and thorough coverage of Minimum Impact Mill Technologies which can meet the environmental challenges of the pulp and paper industry and also discusses Mills and Fiberlines that encompass “State-of-the-Art” technology and management practices. The minimum impact mill does not mean "zero effluent", nor is it exclusive to one bleaching concept. It is a much bigger concept which means that significant progress must be made in the following areas: Water Management, Internal Chemical Management, Energy Management, Control and Discharge of Non-Process Elements and Removal of Hazardous Pollutants. At the moment, there is no bleached kraft pulp mill operating with zero effluent. With the rise in environmental awareness due to the lobbying by environmental organizations and with increased government regulation there is now a trend towards sustainability in the pulp and paper industry. Sustainable pulp and paper manufacturing requires a holistic view of the manufacturing process. During the last decade, there have been revolutionary technical developments in pulping, bleaching and chemical recovery technology. These developments have made it possible to further reduce loads in effluents and airborne emissions. Thus, there has been a strong progress towards minimum impact mills in the pulp and paper industry. The minimum-impact mill is a holistic manufacturing concept that encompasses environmental management systems, compliance with environmental laws and regulations and manufacturing technologies.

This short history tells the story of five hundred years of papermaking against the general background of the coming of paper and printing in Britain, through the major developments of the Industrial Revolution, up to the technological advances which have made possible the enormous high-speed paper machines of the present day.

This book presents a state-of-the-art report on the treatment of pulp and paper industry effluents using anaerobic technology. It covers a comprehensive range of topics, including the basic reasons for anaerobic treatment, comparison between anaerobic and aerobic treatment, effluent types suitable for anaerobic treatment, design considerations for anaerobic treatment, anaerobic reactor configurations applied for treatment of pulp and paper industry effluents, present status of anaerobic treatment in pulp and paper industry, economic aspects, examples of full scale installations and future trends.