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Tumut Kraft mill environmental approvals and management plans

Visy Pulp and Paper Tumut (VPP) is a fully integrated unbleached Kraft Pulp and Paper Mill,  located between the towns of Tumut and Adelong in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales. Development Approval for the project was obtained on 29 November 1998 pursuant to the provisions of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. This consent, subject to over 105 individual conditions, was issued for the first stage of operations with capacity of up to 300,000 tonnes per year (tpy) and increase of up to 450,000 tpy for the future mill expansion.

In May 2006, Visy sought approval from the Minister for Planning on the further increase to the future Mill expansion to 700,000 tpy. As this increase was substantially greater than the 450,000 tpy originally approved, Visy was required to prepare an Environmental Assessment for the increase in capacity for the proposed expansion.

The Visy Tumut Expansion Environmental Assessment for the 700,000 tpy was prepared and submitted to the Minister for Planning in February 2007 and approval was granted by the Minister in May 2007 pursuant to the provisions of Section 75J of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. This approval was granted subject to Concept and Project Approval Conditions issued in Schedule 2 of the approval dated 1 May 2007. Visy obtained further modifications to this approval that included a production increase to 800,000 tpy and other project component additions and upgrades.

Visy Tumut’s objective is to maintain a high environmental standard. The development approval conditions are designed to assist achievement of this objective and ensure that:

  • adverse environmental impacts are prevented or minimised
  • standards and performance measures are set for acceptable environmental performance
  • regular monitoring, independant auditing and annual reporting are carried out
  • regular consultation with the community
  • provide ongoing environmental management
  • implement best practice for pollution prevention.

Environment Protection Licence

Visy Tumut operates in accordance with the conditions of the Environment Protection Licence No. 10232 issued by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

The Licence conditions relate to pollution prevention, monitoring, reporting, complaints handling and cleaner production through recycling, waste minimisation and implementation of best practice.

Contact Visy Pulp and Paper at Tumut

To report any urgent environmental issues or concerns relating to operations at Tumut Kraft mill, please contact our 24 hour free call hotline at 1800 117 910 (landline only) or (02) 6947 7910. 

This includes the transporting of wood or finished product to and from Visy. All concerns raised are recorded and investigated and dealt with immediately by our trained staff and operators. 

All other enquiries can be addressed to the Visy environmental manager by:

Visy Community Consultative Committee

Visy actively participates in community consultation with the elected community members of the Visy Community Consultative Committee (VCCC). The VCCC's role is to represent the interests of Visy's immediate neighbours, local progress association bodies, local landcare organisations, Snowy Valleys Council and the broader Tumut communities to monitor Visy's compliance with the development approval and licence conditions.

For further enquiries on the role of the VCCC, please contact the Visy Tumut HSE Manager on (02) 6947 7900.