WEST FRASER TIMBER CO., LTD

4.11 Responsible Resource Efficiency

Our goal is to have a sustainable and resilient business. We are committed to consciously managing our air and water emissions, working towards efficiency, reducing consumption and developing sustainable energy solutions.

We are focused on replacing fossil fuel energy sources where feasible with renewable and carbon-neutral energy sources. Renewable sources now supply about three-quarters of our operations’ energy needs. We use manufacturing by-products such as wood waste and pulp mill liquor to generate bioenergy and invest capital to improve manufacturing processes’ energy efficiency.

In the fall of 2016, the Paris Agreement (Agreement) resulting from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force. At present, Canada, the European Union and the U.K. have all ratified the agreement. The Canadian federal government and the four provinces in which West Fraser currently operates have enacted regulations to meet GHG reduction obligations through carbon taxes or cap-and-trade initiatives.

All of West Fraser’s U.K. operations entered into Kyoto climate change energy efficiency agreements in 2001, which have resulted in significant tax and energy efficiency cost savings. A cap-and-trade carbon trading program has been in place in the U.K. and Europe since 2005. Biomass heat energy generating units have enabled our U.K. and European mills to comply with energy efficiency targets and have resulted in a surplus of carbon credits and renewable heat incentives (RHI) across our businesses.