Procter & Gamble has announced the development of an up to 50-megawatt biomass plant that will help run one of its largest US facilities. The plant will significantly help the company to get closer to its 2020 goal of obtaining 30% of its total energy from renewable sources. 

Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, will build, own and operate the $200 million cogeneration plant, which will supply steam to P&G’s paper manufacturing facility in Albany, Georgia, as well as generating electricity for the local utility, Georgia Power. 

For more than 30 years, the Albany plant has successfully used a smaller onsite biomass boiler to convert wood scraps into renewable steam, providing about 30% of the total energy. The new facility will replace this with a highly efficient combined heat and power biomass unit. Incoming biomass will provide 100% of the steam and up to 60-70% of the total energy used to manufacture Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet tissue.”

“At P&G, we are committed to improving the environmental sustainability of our products across all aspects of their life cycle – from manufacturing, packaging, delivery and consumer use,” said Martin Riant, P&G executive sponsor of sustainability and group president for Global Baby and Feminine and Family Care. “This project will reduce the environmental footprint of two leading brands, Bounty and Charmin. We see this as a win for our business, consumers, partners and the environment.”