Mercer Celgar

Welcome to Mercer Celgar

Established in 1961, Mercer Celgar marked a significant development in British Columbia’s industrial landscape as the inaugural pulp mill in the interior region. Over the decades, it has played a pivotal role in Castlegar’s economic and social fabric and the broader West Kootenay area, emerging as a key employer and community pillar. 

Its strategic positioning within one of British Columbia’s prime fibre baskets enhances its operational efficiency, with its close proximity to the BC coast providing logistical advantages for distribution and access to raw materials. This geographical advantage underscores Mercer Celgar’s commitment to leveraging local resources sustainably while contributing to regional growth.

Innovation and Advancement

Our journey towards innovation and advancement commenced in 1993 with a transformative $850 million rebuild. This significant investment modernized our mill into a high-quality, continuous process kraft pulp mill fully equipped with the latest power generation and environmental treatment technologies. This strategic upgrade was a testament to our commitment to environmental stewardship and proactive approach to addressing the challenges of climate change.

The acquisition by Mercer in February 2005 marked the beginning of a series of strategic initiatives aimed at bolstering process efficiencies and augmenting our annual production capabilities. These efforts have been integral to our mission to enhance operational effectiveness while minimizing our environmental footprint.

Key milestones in our journey include:

Partnerships for Sustainable Forestry (2024): Our latest initiative involves collaboration with the Osoyoos Indian Band and the Forest Enhancement Society of BC. This partnership is focused on the responsible management of forestry resources, leveraging underutilized wood fibre, minimizing waste, and bolstering local economies. It underscores our commitment to sustainable resource utilization and carbon emissions reduction.

Operational Enhancements (2019): Our efforts to refine operational efficiency continued with debottlenecking the pulp packaging line and establishing a turpentine extraction plant. These enhancements were pivotal in boosting production efficiency, reducing chemical expenses, and mitigating environmental impacts.

Green Energy Project (2010): With an investment of $61 million, this project introduced a second turbine generator and upgraded the mill’s bark boiler and steam systems, elevating our energy generation capacity to 100 MW. The establishment of a 10-year electricity purchase agreement with BC Hydro enabled us to sell surplus energy at advantageous green energy rates, further solidifying our commitment to sustainable practices.

Project Blue Goose (2007): A pivotal initiative to ensure stable pulp production and electricity generation. By integrating best practices from our German counterparts and investing $24 million in capital improvements, we significantly enhanced the mill’s operational reliability and increased its production capacity to around 500,000 tonnes annually.

These strategic investments and collaborative efforts have elevated Mercer Celgar’s leadership in the pulp industry. This was notably recognized in 2019 when we were honored with the Innovation Award by the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) for our groundbreaking pulp-chip trailer design. 

Developed through a two-year collaborative effort with a trucking firm and a trailer manufacturer, the innovative B-train trailer is designed to be robust enough for pulp transport, sufficiently lightweight for economical wood chip haulage, and compatible with existing loading and unloading infrastructure. This innovation marks a significant leap forward in reducing transportation costs and emissions, enhancing our productivity and sustainability footprint.

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