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.
1930
Cormatic®, a controlled towel dispensing system (now produced by Georgia-Pacific), is introduced.
The first of its kind, it dispenses towels one at a time “hands free.“
1930s Fort Howard Paper Company (now owned by Georgia-Pacific) starts using recovered paper to make tissue
products at its Green Bay, Wis., mill. 1963
GP begins operating the nation’s first Southern pine plywood plant at Fordyce, Ark. In developing commercially viable
plywood from Southern pine trees, the company makes use of an underutilized resource. 1969
The company donates California redwood groves, valued at more than $6 million, to the public.
1970
Harmon Associates (now a part of Georgia-Pacific) is founded as a regional trader of recovered paper for use in containerboard and gypsum paperboard. 1980
GP begins making oriented strand board (OSB), a new type of structural panel. OSB helps make more efficient use of the forest resource by using smaller trees or trees and wood fiber that cannot be made into other wood products. 1981
Georgia-Pacific Chemicals enters the crude tall oil fractionation business, adding value to by-products from
GP paper mills.
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.
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.
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.
2000
Harmon Associates expands its recovered fiber trading business into Europe. The company trades 2.7 million
tons of recovered paper this year. 
Georgia-Pacific requires all its wood and fiber suppliers to use loggers trained in sustainable forestry practices. The company marks its 10-year partnership with the St. Croix International Waterway Commission with the
release of 750 adult Atlantic salmon into Maine's St. Croix River.
Georgia-Pacific develops a quantification model (GPCARB©) to help estimate the amount of carbon sequestered
in forest products in use. The model is accepted by the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations. GP announces a $3 million gift over three years to support The Nature Conservancy's conservation efforts in
the United States as part of its Last Great Places program.
The company implements its Product Hazard Analysis and Control (PHAC™) management system to facilitate
compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other product safety and environmental regulations as well as
with customer and company requirements. 2002
Georgia-Pacific introduces the enMotion® ”touchless“ towel dispenser. By controlling the amount of towels
dispensed, it reduces waste at the source as well as improves hygiene for consumers. 
GP develops a protocol for compiling greenhouse gas inventories for the company’s manufacturing facilities and
subsequently completes its first inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from company facilities for the year 2000;
the inventory will be conducted every other year. Harmon Associates begins to trade recovered fiber in Mexico and Latin America.
Newly launched EasyNap® dispenser napkins reduce usage and waste by 30 percent compared with other standard products. 2003
GP’s packaging group opens the Innovation Institute, a package design and innovation lab that helps customers
identify and reduce supply chain costs, optimize package designs, and measure sustainability factors. 
Georgia-Pacific’s wood and fiber procurement group introduces Low Impact Thinning and Logging (LITE)
for its timber suppliers. This enables them to log in the winter while minimizing the environmental effects of
harvesting in wet weather. 2004
The company introduces Nitamin® fertilizers. The Steady Delivery® nitrogen release helps achieve
higher crop yields and grows strong turf while applying less nitrogen than commonly used quick-release fertilizers.
This reduces nitrogen loss that can impact streams and rivers. 
The Russellville, S.C., chemical facility becomes the first GP facility to be accepted into the U.S. EPA’s
National Environmental Performance Track program. Performance Track is a voluntary program that recognizes and rewards
businesses and public facilities that demonstrate a strong commitment to environmental performance. 2005
The company joins the Green Power Market Development Group, a collaboration of leading corporations and the
World Resources Institute dedicated to building corporate markets for green power.
Georgia-Pacific‘s wood and fiber procurement group enters a partnership with the Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC) to field test FSC standards and programs on private family forest lands in the South.
Three GP chemical facilities - Albany, Ore.; Columbus, Ohio; and Vienna, Ga. - are accepted into the U.S. EPA’s National
Environmental Performance Track program.
2006
GP develops a system that enables it to maximize truckload weights for its shipments of gypsum and wood
products. The trucks still meet weight limits but can carry 5 to 10 percent more product per truckload, reducing
vehicle miles traveled and the resulting environmental impact. 
The Georgia-Pacific Impact Awards are created to recognize employee volunteers across the country for their leadership, initiative, innovation and impact in their communities. Georgia-Pacific‘s Conway, N.C., chemical facility is accepted into the U.S. EPA's National Environmental
Performance Track program, the fifth GP chemical facility in the program.
The company introduces Thermostat® Radiant Barrier Sheathings, plywood and oriented strand board panels with a
layer of highly reflective aluminum foil that reflects up to 97 percent of radiant heat. The panels are Energy
Star® qualified. Selected GP fiberglass mat gypsum wallboard products are certified by the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute
as low-emitting building materials, making them products of choice for helping improve indoor air quality in homes,
schools, healthcare facilities and offices.
GP and the National Wild Turkey Federation are awarded a grant to work on a longleaf pine restoration project on a
total of 7,000 acres of land in the Southeast over three years. 2007
Harmon Associates expands into recycling plastic and metal for its customers. In addition, the company expands its presence to serve the growing recycling market in India. 
Georgia-Pacific Professional begins showcasing the environmental benefits of its products using its Green by Design™
designation. These products support the U.S. EPA‘s strategy of reduce, reuse and recycle. Georgia-Pacific names its first chief sustainability officer, recognizing the increasing importance of
sustainability to the success of the company and to customer relationships.
The company‘s European business launches the “Smile” initiative in the United Kingdom and Ireland
featuring tissue and towel products for the public sector that are made of 100 percent UK and Ireland sourced waste and
recovered fiber. As part of the initiative, the business pledges to eliminate any net contribution to local landfills
by recycling the same tonnage of waste fiber that it supplies to the public sector as washroom paper products. 2008
Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products joins the SmartWay Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the freight industry designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing air pollution. 
GP’s consumer products group is recognized by the U.S. EPA as a Champion in its Design for the Environment
Program’s Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative (SDSI). The program recognizes environmental leaders who
voluntarily commit to the use of safer surfactants that break down quickly to non-polluting compounds and help protect
aquatic life in both fresh and salt water. Champion is the highest level of recognition offered under SDSI. 2009
Georgia-Pacific receives the Sustainable Forestry Initiative's® (SFI®) 2009 President's Award for its efforts to
increase understanding of SFI's fiber sourcing program and how it supports family forest owners across the United States. 
The U.S. EPA names Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products a SmartWaySM Excellence Award winner, recognizing the company for
its leadership in promoting sustainable transportation practices through the SmartWay Transport Partnership. 
Georgia-Pacific Chemicals launches a new line of low-emission adhesives called LEAF™ adhesives. These products are designed
to help in complying with a variety of green building standards. The first products in this line are designed for
particleboard and medium density fiberboard used in furniture paneling, cabinetry and other products with composite
wood parts.