MIAMISBURG, Ohio, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- NewPage Corporation today announced the release of its 2008 Sustainable Development Report titled Effective Stewardship: A Look in the Mirror.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080514/NEWPAGELOGO )

"Our commitment to sustainability encompasses a broad range of "green" initiatives and activities from how we source the wood fiber we use to make our paper, to the use of renewable energy, to our actions as environmental advocates, supporting responsible forestry practices around the world," said Rick Willett, president and chief executive officer for NewPage. "This year's report illustrates in detail what we are doing to drive and measure our progress toward our mission to preserve human, natural and financial resources for the future."

The 2008 report highlights the following company achievements:

• Sourced 99 percent of fiber supply from North America
• Increased certified and recycled fiber use to 51 percent
• Increased use of internal pulp in our products to 85 percent, up from 80 percent in 2007
• Reduced OSHA Total Case Incident Rate 28 percent
• Completed 400 Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects since 2006, resulting in $65 million in annualized savings
• Purchased seven new pieces of equipment
• Invested in five new alternative energy projects such as bio-refineries, wind and steam turbines
• Reduced amount of waste to landfill and increased amount beneficially reused to 85 percent
• Derived 48 percent of energy from biomass fuel; a carbon neutral energy source
• Reduced absolute CO2 emissions from direct sources and purchased energy 7 percent since 2005
• Grew chain-of-custody product sales 95 percent year over year
• Provided 13 standard NewPage products containing recycled content
• Secured two new patents: apparatus for decreasing skip coating on a paper web and a method for conditioning a metering blade
• Saved $11.4 million in freight costs due to fewer miles traveled to get product to customers, resulting in reduced GHG emissions of 25,400 metric tons and diesel fuel savings of 2.5 million gallons
• Shipped 72 percent of NewPage product volume by carriers participating in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership
• Contributed more than half a million dollars to charitable organizations
• Invested in multi-million dollar partnership with World Resources Institute (WRI) to preserve endangered rainforests in Indonesia
  

"The report title and theme, Effective Stewardship: A Look in the Mirror, emphasizes the view that as a company and as individuals, we must be able to look ourselves in the mirror and know that we are truly doing what is right and good for the environment, now and in the future, and that we can be proud of our reflection," added Willett. "We are very proud of what we have achieved thus far and continue to challenge ourselves to improve our environment through research, technology and strategic partnerships."

To download a printable PDF of the report, or to learn more about NewPage Corporation, please visit www.NewPageCorp.com/sustainability.

About NewPage Corporation

Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with $4.4 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2008. The company's product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications and direct mail advertising.

NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nova Scotia, Canada. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.4 million tons of paper, including approximately 3.2 million tons of coated paper, approximately 1.0 million tons of uncoated paper and approximately 200,000 tons of specialty paper.

SOURCE NewPage Corporation

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