2021 Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations annual report: Executive summary

This report summarizes compliance and effluent discharge amounts of Canadian pulp and paper mills with respect to the selected standards prescribed by the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations (PPER), which came into force on May 7, 1992.

The data used in this report were provided to Environment and Climate Change Canada under section 9, 28, 29, and 30 of the Regulations, which requires mills to submit monthly reports to Environment and Climate Change Canada as well as environmental effects monitoring (EEM) reports on a designated cycle. The format for the monthly effluent reports is specified in Schedule II of the Regulations. The monthly effluent reports include:

• the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of BOD matter in effluent;
• the quantity of suspended solids in effluent;
• effluent volume; and
• summary results of rainbow trout acute lethality tests and Daphnia magna monitoring tests.

In 2021, 74 pulp and paper mills operating in Canada were subject to the Regulations. The self-reported data showed a high level of compliance, with 99% of results below the limits for suspended solids (SS) and biological oxygen demand (BOD), 97% of tests not acutely lethal to rainbow trout, and 98.5% of tests showing no effect on Daphnia magna.

The annual effluent loading from Canadian pulp and paper mills (SS released per tonne of production and kilograms of BOD released per tonne of production) remained stable at the national level, with a total of 2.76 kg/tonne of production of SS and 1.29 kg/tonne of production of BOD released to the environment in 2021.

Canadian pulp and paper mills subject to the PPER are required to conduct comprehensive environmental effects monitoring (EEM) studies. The EEM requirements consist of sublethal toxicity testing of mill final effluent and biological monitoring studies conducted in the receiving environment to assess potential impacts of effluent. Mill final effluents show sublethal toxicity impacts of growth and reproduction inhibition in laboratory test species in more than half of all tests conducted. The data from biological monitoring studies, submitted up until 2019 show that mill final effluents from 77% of the mills have impacts on receiving environments.

2021 Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations annual report