COMMUNITY STORIES
Domtar’s Kingsport Mill Donates $5,000 to Northeast State Community College
Photo Caption: Pictured (left to right): Christy Parks, executive assistant at RCAM; Holly Free-Ollard, RCAM’s vice president of Economic and Workforce Development; Jeff McCord, president of Northeast State; Troy Wilson, Domtar Kingsport Mill manager; and Josh Johnson, assistant director of Advancement at Northeast State. (Photo credit: Bob C. Carpenter)
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — In a gesture of appreciation, Domtar’s Kingsport Mill presented a $5,000 donation to Northeast State Community College on Friday, Aug. 18. The funds, which will be used for scholarships, were given as a token of acknowledgment for the invaluable use of the college’s Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM) facility during the mill’s recent conversion.
“We are very grateful for the hospitality and support shared by Northeast State,” said Troy Wilson, Kingsport Mill manager. “While our mill was shut down, we were able to train employees at RCAM in preparation for the startup of our new machine.”
In 2020, Domtar announced plans to transform the mill’s uncoated freesheet paper machine into the second-largest 100 percent recycled containerboard machine in North America. Operations resumed in January 2023, and the machine can produce approximately 600,000 tons of high-quality recycled linerboard and corrugated medium annually. The mill is the largest recycled manufacturer in the state of Tennessee.…
Teachers Visit Domtar’s Kingsport Mill as Part of Trees to Products Program
Tour Demonstrates Sustainability of Facility’s State-of-the-Art Recycling Operation
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Domtar’s Kingsport Mill recently hosted teachers from across the Commonwealth of Virginia as part of the Trees to Products program.
The program, which is coordinated by Virginia Cooperative Education and the Southwest Virginia Chapter Society of American Foresters, covers the fundamentals of forestry and the wood industry. Visiting K-12 teachers learned about the sustainable and renewable resource of trees and how they are converted into a variety of products widely used today.
During their visit, educators toured the machine at the heart of the Kingsport Mill’s recent conversion to a 100 percent recycled containerboard operation. The mill is now capable of producing approximately 600,000 tons of high-quality recycled linerboard and corrugated medium each year. It is the largest recycled manufacturer in Tennessee and prevents approximately 50,000 tons of recycling residuals and other byproducts from entering landfills each year.
During the four-day continuing education session, the group also visited Virginia Forest Products sawmill, Unaka Forest Products chip mill, Speyside Cooperage, Wetlands Estonoa and High Knob. The Trees to Products program offered participating educators 30 hours of professional development credit upon completion.…
Kingsport Mill Reopens, Announces Corrugated Recycling Partnership
Domtar leaders celebrate the Kingsport Mill’s grand re-opening and the company’s corrugated recycling partnership with Food City leaders in May 2023. Photo Credit: Earl Neikirk/Neikirk Image Our Kingsport Mill is running again, using recycled fiber from a...
Kingsport Mill Conversion Project Wins Prestigious PPSA Safety Award
The project to convert the Kingsport Mill into Domtar’s first 100 percent recycled containerboard facility recently received the Pulp & Paper Safety Association’s prestigious Award of Safety Excellence.
Given annually by the PPSA board of directors, the award is the organization’s most prestigious honor for operating excellence. It recognizes each nominee’s safety program, record and continued efforts to promote safety culture. The Kingsport Mill was one of three deserving award winners, lauded for its onsite construction crews surpassing 2.5 million hours without a lost-time incident, making it one of the largest – and statistically safest – projects in our 175-year history.
Charlie Floyd, vice president of Domtar packaging strategic capital projects, accepted the award on the mill’s behalf at the PPSA’s annual safety and health conference, held June 11-14 in Orlando, Florida. He said that every Domtar leader on the site during Project Smoky played an important role in its success.
“We’re proud to be recognized with this prestigious award,” Floyd said. “This milestone was achieved by creating an environment where workers were encouraged to stay focused on the job at hand and minimize distractions. The single most important message we consistently conveyed through our words and actions was to let contract support personnel know Domtar cared about them and valued them.”…
Domtar celebrates transformation of Kingsport Mill
From The Business Journal
A ribbon-cutting ceremony usually signals the opening of a new facility. However, the ceremony held at Domtar’s Kingsport Mill last month simply opened the latest chapter at a facility that has operated in Kingsport for over a century.
Communication is Key to Safety in Massive Conversion Project
From Paper 360°
How do you complete 2.5 million work hours during a major mill conversion without a single lost-time incident? According to Charlie Floyd, vice president, Packaging Strategic Capital for Domtar, the key is communication. And lots of it.
Domtar hosts ribbon-cutting, announces Food City partnership
From the Kingsport Times News
Domtar employees got to see the fruits of their labor for the past two years pay off on Wednesday at the converted Kingsport Mill’s ribbon- cutting ceremony.
Celebrating the Kingsport Mill Grand Reopening
Domtar executives and employees joined state and local dignitaries for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Kingsport Mill grand reopening celebration. Click here for the full story
Editorial: Domtar’s hard work pays off
Image courtesy of Neikirk Image Photography
Editorial from the Kingsport Times-News
The ribbon-cutting will come later, but Domtar’s Kingsport Mill has resumed operations after a two-year, $350 million investment to convert the former uncoated freesheet paper mill into the company’s first 100% recycled packaging facility.
Kingsport Mill Resumes Operation; Produces First Containerboard Roll
The Kingsport Mill recently produced its first 100 percent recycled containerboard. The milestone marks the culmination of a two-year, $350 million investment project to convert the former uncoated freesheet paper mill into Domtar’s first 100 percent recycled...