Largest Biomass User in Washington Quits

A Kimberly Clark plant in western Washington, the largest user of biomass in the state, announced it will no longer use C&D or any other biomass. This is among rumors that it will be switching over to natural gas. The effect on the local marketplace for C&D biomass is about 400,000 tons annually.

According to sources in the area, the large paper products company is switching for a variety of reasons. The gas fields recently certified in the Dakotas will provide a cheaper and steady source of fuel for the company. These huge fields are expected to lower the price of natural gas in the foreseeable future. In addition, there may be a new owner for the plant that wants out of any current contracts the facility already has, and the c-gen plant attached to it is a tremendous expense.

But it may be more than economics. On the horizon are several federal regulations casting a shadow nationally over the alternative fuel market, namely the Boiler MACT rules and the Non Hazardous Secondary Materials.

The CMRA Northwest Chapter has gathered data that at least 50 jobs and maybe two recycling companies are threatened by this move. Troy Lautenbach, president of the chapter, said chapter members will be working to get politicians and other involved because this kind of economic fallout is important to them. The plan is to get all involved—recyclers, biomass plant owners and legislators—around the table to discuss ways to keep the market going. Already one other local biomass user has dropped by $10 the price it is paying for biomass, and maybe that’s what it will take to keep Kimberly Clark in the fold.

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