Research Makes Innovation Possible but at What Cost?
The history of industrial innovation is bittersweet. The pulp and paper industry has made great strides in reclaiming and reusing industrial waste and in manufacturing by-products. Many of these products have benefitted consumers, but industry often generates chemical waste that may impact a region for generations.
Although the process of producing paper remains much the same today as it was a century ago, pressure from the government regulators has spurred the pulp and paper industry to find new methods of reducing chemical emissions. One of the principal challenges confronting industry in the twenty-first century is successfully striking a balance between environmental imperatives and innovation.