For the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology, reimagining Wisconsin forest products offers an economic path forward for the forest industry.
The Wisconsin forest products industry employs 61,000 workers and contributes $24.4 billion to the economy; pulp and paper are the nation's largest sector in forest products. When an industry this expansive is hit with challenging times, we all feel the impact. As dynamics have changed for regionally sourced northern hardwood pulps, the industry's fortunes have suffered.
Fundamental changes in paper use, recessions, loss of foreign markets, strong foreign competition, and fluctuations of price and operations have had devastating effects on Wisconsin's forest products industry. These difficulties have affected the entire US pulp and paper industries, as well.
In addition, since the 1980s brand-name manufacturers have been using imported, bleached eucalyptus kraft (BEK) pulp as a major component of their fiber furnish for tissue products. Consumers liked the soft and absorbent products made with BEK, and domestic mills liked the free mill modifications provided by the overseas pulp producers. The result was, however, additional displacement of domestic fibers.
But WIST can be the catalyst to help the industry to move forward. Even as marketplace demand for pulp and paper fiber has diminished for some end-uses, consumer demand for tissue and towel products has grown—much of it reliant on the imported eucalyptus pulp. WIST has been exploring ways to drive Wisconsin's underutilized hardwood market in the growing tissue market, replacing the 3.1 million tons of BEK imported in 2022.
For more information, contact:
Paul Fowler, Executive Director of WIST
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