Page 19 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 4 - Fall 2023

space and find wood products in the walls, the furniture, the paper, the pencils, the packages in the mailroom and even in the bathroom on the toilet paper roll, just to name a few. By producing many of these products in manufacturing facilities close to where they will be purchased and used, companies are able to significantly reduce the risk and cost of production, incen- tivizing the industry to invest in urban areas, according to Emily Ham, manager of state government relations at Interna- tional Paper.
“It’s an amazing story that we have, not just in Georgia but in other states where our manufacturing footprint is huge. We locate our mills rurally, close and concentrated around raw forest supply, because transportation is expensive and strenuous. We want to touch things as few times as possible to recognize those savings and not move goods any further than we have to. For that same reason, any sort of converting plant — box plant, folding carton, printing and what not — you want to be close to your customers,” said Ham. “There is a lot of manufacturing in Georgia. You want to
be close to where your customers are, and that’s often in a lot of metro areas. In our case in Georgia, primarily Atlanta, Columbus and Savannah.”
International Paper employs 2,700 people in the state of Georgia over 17 facilities, seven of which are packaging plants within the metropolitan footprints of Atlanta, Columbus and Savannah. Those packaging plants, or converted paper-product manufacturing facilities, create an additional three indirect jobs per direct job, according to a 2019 study by the Economic Policy Institute.
Having these manufacturing facilities nearby to customers doesn’t just help getting the product to them quicker, easier and more cost-effectively — it also helps do the same when getting those products back after use to be recycled and reused as a part of the state’s sustainable forestry ecosystem.
“The metro urban areas of our state play a very important role in the circular- ity of the industry. These areas are where a lot of the recovered fiber is generated. We want to keep all of these high-quality recycled paper products, whether it was
used as copy paper or food packaging, in the stream so we can recycle them,” said Ham. “Georgia is a big state for recycled paper manufacturing, in many cases 100% recycled.”
A Solution for
Growing Demand
There is an impending need for increased production of forestry products. Geor- gia’s rapid population growth, especially in its metropolitan regions, has ignited a surge in the demand for wood products. Experts estimate that Atlanta will grow by 3 to 4 million people by 2060, and the need for infrastructure and household products will grow accordingly. The state’s forestry industry provides a local, low-cost, sustainable solution.
“The South, and Atlanta in particular, is continuing to urbanize. That gener- ates a need for additional housing, for which the primary building material is wood. That wood is sourced from right here in the state, directly providing the lumber and plywood used to construct
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