Domtar cuts annual water consumption by 2.3 billion gallons across ten mills

Water is the lifeblood of the pulp and paper industry. It washes fibers, generates steam, and cools heavy machinery. For decades, the sector has treated water as an abundant, low-cost utility. But as we navigate the operational realities of 2026, water resilience has become a critical metric for long-term viability. Domtar is proving that the most effective efficiency strategies often come directly from the mill floor.

According to the company's latest Q2 2026 sustainability update, employee-led projects at ten Domtar mills have successfully reduced the manufacturer's water use by more than 2.3 billion gallons a year. To put that into perspective, that volume is enough to fill nearly 3,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools annually.

A Capex Fund Without Financial ROI Requirements

The driving force behind this massive reduction is Domtar’s Water Reduction Capex Fund, an initiative launched in 2023. The premise is straightforward but highly unusual for corporate capital allocation: the company sets aside a specific portion of its capital spending exclusively for water-reduction projects. Mill teams compete for this funding by submitting technical proposals.

The standout rule of this fund is that projects do not need to demonstrate a traditional financial return on investment. The sole priority is saving water. As Brian Kozlowski, senior director of environment and sustainability for Domtar’s Paper and Packaging business unit, noted, removing the strict financial ROI requirement gave employees the freedom to think beyond the immediate bottom line.

This approach has yielded 24 distinct projects designed and executed by the operators and engineers who know the machinery best. Many of these initiatives focus on closed-loop systems, such as capturing white water drained during the papermaking process and returning it to production rather than drawing fresh water. Other projects involve redirecting cooling water to towers where heat is dissipated before the water is reused.

Tracking Toward 2030 Targets

The results of these 24 projects are already visible on Domtar's corporate scoreboard. The company has set a firm target to achieve a 20% reduction in water-use intensity by 2030, measured against a 2020 baseline.

As of the first half of 2026, water use across Domtar's Paper & Packaging business unit is officially down 10% from 2020 levels. Reaching the halfway mark four years ahead of the deadline suggests that empowering local mill teams is a highly effective strategy for corporate sustainability goals.

Individual facilities are seeing significant localized impacts. Earlier this year, Domtar’s Nekoosa Mill in Wisconsin was recognized internally for implementing a series of conservation initiatives projected to save over 129 million gallons of water independently.

The Strategic Value of Water Resilience

For the global paper and packaging industry, Domtar's milestone is more than a feel-good sustainability story; it is a blueprint for operational risk management. While modern mills already treat and return approximately 94% of the water they intake, the sheer volume of water required means that even a small percentage reduction in intake significantly lowers energy costs associated with pumping, heating, and treating that water.

Furthermore, as regulatory frameworks around industrial water usage tighten globally in 2026, companies that proactively reduce their water intensity are insulating themselves against future compliance costs and potential production bottlenecks during regional droughts.

Domtar’s strategy proves that when you remove rigid financial hurdles for specific environmental targets, the technical expertise of frontline workers can unlock massive operational efficiencies. How many other legacy processes in our mills could be optimized if we simply asked the operators and funded their best ideas without demanding an immediate payback? Follow The Paper for daily news, market signals and key updates from the global paper, corrugated and packaging industry. — Sigue toda la actualidad del sector en www.thepaper.ai