Off-grade straw composted

DAYTON–Columbia Pulp, LLC is converting wheat straw into cellulose fiber for the paper and paper converting industries. This is a major initiative that not only provides an alternative to wood pulp but also helps reduce negative impacts to our watersheds.

Pulping wheat straw has multiple benefits, but it is not without challenges. One challenge is what to do with pulp that does not meet customer specifications? Columbia Pulp, LLC is excited to announce that it is composting its off-specification straw fiber into valuable compost. Columbia Pulp is producing two grades of compost. The first is a well-balanced, dark, earthy smelling product for the home gardener or landscaper.

It is pH neutral and loaded with micro and macro nutrients that displace the need for commercial fertilizers while making weed-pulling a breeze and reducing the amount of watering needed to sustain healthy lawns, landscapes and gardens.

The second is intended for agricultural uses. This product increases agricultural soil pH while also adding organics, nutrients, and minerals back to some of the same soils it came from. It is excellent at reducing erosion and maximizing water holding capacity of soils. Regardless of your use, it is easy to see that compost can reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, reduce water consumption and increase nutrient content of soil. Plants love it.

In addition to compost as a soil amendment, Columbia Pulp is exploring other products that could be manufactured from the fiber. One potential product is animal bedding. CSF20 animal bedding is a natural pet litter and livestock bedding product manufactured by composting pulped straw fiber. This high-performance light weight bedding is extremely absorbent, pathogen free, odor free and virtually dust free. The pleasing color and biodegradability of this bedding make it an excellent substitute for wood shavings and earth-based (clay and diatomaceous earth) products.

Another possibility is cat litter manufactured by drying, shredding and bagging pulp as a replacement for clay. Clay is mined from the earth and ultimately ends up in the landfill, neither of which is sustainable. Pulped straw is equally absorbent as clay, alkaline (helps control pathogens), pathogen free, and is septic safe which means it does not have to go to the landfill. A third possibility is fuel pellets. Straw contains 90% of the BTU of traditional wood pellets but does not depend on the harvest of timber and has a significantly lower carbon footprint.

Converting off specification material into viable products is part of the Columbia Pulp sustainability story and allows the company to have zero solid waste discharge.