Kruger Products’ Gatineau, Que., plant has received the ISO 50001 certification for Energy Management.

The certification enables the plant to integrate energy management into its overall efforts to improve quality and environmental management.

Kruger Products is the first company to receive this certification from the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ).

The ISO 50001-based energy management system enables the papermaker to continuously monitor energy intensity, maintain and improve energy performance. The Gatineau plant has significantly improved its environmental performance since 2009, by reducing its energy intensity by 25 per cent.

This certification is not the first action taken in the company’s sustainability efforts. Kruger was the first Canadian tissue products company to be certified to the Forest Stewardship Council (FCS) standard and, by the 1970s, the company was manufacturing recycled bathroom tissue.

Kruger’s Green Value Creation Program is a corporate initiative that promotes innovation and investment in large-scale energy efficiency projects in all its establishments across North America.

The manufacturer reports it has reduced its GHG emissions by nearly 50 per cent and its water use by 40 per cent over the past decade.

“Access to Transition énergétique Québec‘s programs, including the EcoPerformance Program under which we were awarded the ISO 50001 certification, makes our energy efficiency projects even more attractive. Kruger Products’ Gatineau Plant is our first to be certified ISO 50001. We have already begun the process to have other establishments in Kruger’s various activity sectors certified,” Maxime Cossette, vice president of Sustainability and Biomaterials for Kruger, said in a release.

Certification to ISO 50001 is a strategic management system that is not obligatory, but provides a framework of requirements for organizations to develop policies around efficient use of energy; set targets and objectives to meet the policy; use data to make informed decisions; measure results; review the policy; and continually improve energy management.