MILLINOCKET – The Chlorine Free Products Association has certified Great Northern Paper Inc.’s five paper product lines are Totally Chlorine Free.

Great Northern is the first pulp and paper manufacturer in North America to certify five paper product lines, according to the Illinois-based association.

Also, the Maine paper company is the first coated paper mill in North America to meet the new National Catalog Managers Association resolution calling for the TCF-Processed Chlorine Free certification labeling requirements.

Archie J. Beaton, executive director of the association, said products receiving and displaying the Chlorine Free Products Association’s TCF-PCF Certification Mark provide the public a guarantee that they are purchasing environmentally superior products.

“These products are not made using harmful chlorine-containing compounds,” Beaton said. He said a byproduct of chlorine compound bleaching is dioxin, which has been cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institutes of Health as a known human carcinogen.

The TCF certification also means the producer has no current or pending environmental permit violations and the pulp fiber comes from sustainable harvested forests free of old growth.

Great Northern received the certification after an audit of the mill. The CFPA hired Dr. Norman Liebergott, a pulp-bleaching expert, who holds more than 32 U.S. and foreign patents, to perform a full audit of the mill.

Brian Stetson, Great Northern spokesman and director of environmental affairs, said the independent certification is valuable because the company has customers who are sensitive to environmental issues.

“The certification opens more markets up, makes us more competitive and will give us more opportunities in the specialty paper market,” said Stetson.

“Nowhere in our pulp or paper processes do we use chlorine to whiten paper,” Stetson said.

Instead of chlorine, Great Northern uses peroxide in its pulping process to whiten the fiber used to make paper.

“The CFPA’s certification requirements is a dependable and accurate way to show U.S. purchasers that no false claims are being made about our commitment to the environment,” said Leon Nelson, president of Great Northern’s Sales Division.

Seeking the TCF certification is part of Great Northern’s planned strategy to become a specialty paper producer later this year.