Sustainability Timeline
Georgia-Pacific works to create products that improve people's lives, to use resources wisely, actively engage in our communities, and contribute to society by being a prosperous business. We call it being sustainable.We start with the three dimensions of sustainability - social, environmental and economic performance - and strive to find the right balance among them to help create long-term value for our customers, for society and for our company.
Georgia-Pacific has a long history of practicing sustainability. Here are some examples of our key activities and accomplishments over time. Some activities represent more than one dimension of sustainability.
1990
Nouvelle, a 100 percent recycled bath tissue (now produced by Georgia-Pacific), is introduced in the United Kingdom.
1992
Georgia-Pacific begins manufacturing synthetic gypsum wallboard using the output of the Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD)
process. This process removes sulfur dioxide from the emissions of fossil-fuel-burning power plants. Using this by-product
helps conserve landfill space. 1993
Georgia-Pacific enters into a first-of-its-kind agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior to protect the
endangered red-cockaded woodpecker on company lands. GP Chairman Pete Correll is appointed to the President’s Council on Sustainable Development to help
identify ways for the country to grow economically while sustaining the environment for future generations.
The company’s Crossett, Ark., pulp and paper mill is accepted into OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), which
recognizes exemplary safety programs. GP is the first forest products company to be accepted into the program. 1994
Georgia-Pacific is a founding/charter member of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI), a program that
promotes sustainable forestry practices. The Better Alternative® recessed roll towel system is introduced, enabling office buildings to switch to
portion controlled rolled towel systems, which significantly reduce towel waste.
GP’s gypsum plant in Las Vegas, Nev., begins using co-generation to help meet its energy needs. As a result,
the plant uses 70 percent less natural gas than traditional gypsum plants to produce wallboard.
The company publishes its first Environmental and Safety Report. The report features GP's new environmental
and safety principles and a set of more than 50 goals designed to measure progress in these important areas. Compact® bath tissue system is introduced for the away-from-home market. The coreless tissue and
dispenser eliminate roll cores and significantly reduce packaging waste.
GP enters into a unique land agreement with The Nature Conservancy to protect more than 21,000 acres along the
Lower Roanoke River in North Carolina.
1996
The Envision® line of commercial tissue products is introduced. This tissue and towel line meets or exceeds the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended guidelines for total and post-consumer recycled fiber content.
Georgia-Pacific and the National Parks and Conservation Association form the “Partnership for Parks”
to provide grants to national parks. Over the five years of the program, GP awards more than $1 million to help fund
projects to restore park infrastructure, protect natural resources, and make historical and cultural sites easily
accessible to park visitors.
Georgia-Pacific’s employee volunteer program - ServiceForce - is created. 1997
The company begins sponsoring middle school science and math teachers to attend the nationally recognized Keystone Center
for Education Key Issues Institute. Teachers attend a weeklong program where they learn how to investigate current
environmental issues in an unbiased way and take those methods back to their classrooms. GP’s away-from-home tissue business introduces EVA2, the first computer program to measure both the
environmental and economic value added by these products and to inform the buyer at the point of sale.
1998
Georgia-Pacific Chemicals launches high-efficiency, high-solids, shelf-stable wet strength resins Amres® HP
product line technologies. These unique chemistries allow paper chemical customers to reduce resin usage and freight
and to extend product storage life.
1999
Georgia-Pacific’s wood and fiber procurement group becomes the first procurement organization to have its practices
third-party certified under the SFI standard. 
The Packaging Systems Optimization (PSO™) program is formally established. Using a rigorous packaging system assessment,
the program is designed to help customers reduce material use and costs and meet their sustainability goals.