Visy’s paper mill located in Reservoir is one of eight paper machines that Visy operates in Australia, manufacturing a combined total of over 1.5 million tonnes of paper every year. Around 815,000 tonnes of this production, including the paper produced at Reservoir, is recycled paper for domestic and export markets.

Our Reservoir mill receives mixed paper and cardboard from Visy’s Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), and other MRFs across the state. The recovered recyclable materials includes the sorted material collected from community kerbside recycling bins and pre-sorted material supplied from commercial and industrial customers.

The recovered paper and cardboard received at our Reservoir site is re-manufactured into 100% recycled paper products. The 100% recycled paper is then used at our Visy Board facilities.

Odours in the recycled paper making process

Recycled paper making is a water intensive process and, in line with Visy’s commitment to sustainability, we recycle as much water as possible. The temperature and chemical conditions in the recycled water system provides an environment which produce sulphides and volatile fatty acids (VFAs), such as acetic acid (vinegar), as a by-product of the paper recycling process, in the circulating water.

Under certain conditions, when the water vapour is then released by the recycled paper manufacturing process, small amounts of these substances are released into the air. While not hazardous, these substances have low odour detection thresholds and can result in an odour depending on weather conditions.