FAQ

How much are you expecting to invest?

We’re investing approximately $250 million.

How many jobs will be created?

• Plant jobs — once operational, the plant will support approximately 350 jobs; 100 directly by Enviva and 250 indirect jobs in adjacent industries such as logging and trucking. Every job at an Enviva facility creates at least two additional jobs in the region in industries such as logging and transportation, according to a study by Chmura Economics & Analytics.
• Construction jobs: during construction, the plant will support approximately 400 cumulative jobs.
• Forestry jobs — By turning waste wood into valuable energy, Enviva fosters the healthy growth of forests. Enviva’s forestry professionals serve a key role by effectively engaging with landowners, the conservation community, and other external stakeholders to implement and help develop new, high-impact programs related to our sourcing.

When do you plan to start posting jobs?

Once our hiring begins, all updates on the available jobs at the Bond plant will be posted on our Careers Page. We encourage all interested residents to apply. Most of the positions will be filled approximately six months before the plant is scheduled to open.

Will the new facility include unique features, equipment or designs that are new or different for Enviva?

Enviva will use sophisticated, safe wood pellet processing equipment. The plant will be constructed to limit the impact on the surrounding community with state-of-the-art emissions technologies installed at every step of the process. These industry-proven air emission controls reduce emissions from the manufacturing process. Enviva is a leader in the wood products industry by thoroughly controlling emissions generated by our operations.

What will be the output capacity of the mill?

The plant is expected to have nameplate production capacity of more than 1 million metric tons of wood pellets per year.

What is the build-out schedule of the mill?

Construction is expected to begin in early 2023, and operations in Bond should be up and running by 2024.

What is the status of the permits?

We will apply for and obtain all required permits before we begin construction.

What type of wood will be used (hardwood or softwood) and where will it be sourced from?

Mississippi has a rich fiber supply basket, and the Bond plant intends to use low-value softwood and hardwood fiber sustainably sourced within 75 miles of the facility, thereby creating a market for local landowners and incentivizing them to keep their land as forests.

Where and how will the pellets be shipped?

Pellets will be shipped by truck to our marine terminal at the Port of Pascagoula.

How can you guarantee that your mill won’t contribute to deforestation in the area?

The forests in the U.S. Southeast (where Enviva sources its wood) are working forests that have been farmed and regenerated by private landowners for generations to meet the economy’s demand for wood products. The U.S. is one of the world’s most important timber baskets, and the U.S. Southeast produces about one-sixth of the wood that is used worldwide every year. Wood products are used to produce a wide variety of forest products, everything from furniture to diapers and toilet paper.

Private forest owners in the U.S Southeast are growing 40% more wood than they remove every year thanks to the sustainable forest management practices and strong markets for forest products. This data is from research done by the government’s U.S. Forest Service. When a given tract of land is harvested, Enviva takes about 30% of the harvested volume, while the remaining 70% goes to other participants in the forest product sector, like sawmills and furniture manufacturers.

Third-party data from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program, show that increased demand for forest products in the U.S. Southeast has resulted in more, not less, forest inventory in the region year-over-year.

How will you deal with all the traffic that will impact the community?

Our site provides direct access to a major highway (US-49) which has more than sufficient capacity to handle plant-related vehicle volume. We commissioned a traffic study which identifies road improvements that will be incorporated to minimize impact. This includes having on and off-ramps constructed to facilitate an easy flow of traffic into and out of the plant. There will be multiple site entrance and exit lanes to optimize traffic on site. We will also have enough space to accommodate trucks at the plant, eliminating the need for any overflow to the highway.

What about noise? Won’t there be a lot of noise coming from this operation?

We situated the plant layout on the land to take advantage of the natural tree buffers and traffic patterns. With this layout, the facility will act to shield traffic noise. The loudest equipment will be enclosed in buildings to block direct sound travel. To further curb noise, we will be maintaining and/or planting trees as buffers where possible.

What about emissions from the plant, particularly dust? Won’t that hurt our local environment?

Dust leaving our facility is unacceptable. So, we’re looking at a number of options in the design phase of the plant. We’re committed to installing industry-leading emissions controls to prevent dust from leaving our site. The enhancements we have already made or seek to make to our plants have and will prevent this from occurring. This plant will be fully compliant with all ambient air quality standards which includes PM2.5, or fine particulate matter.

For every permit obtained by Enviva, our facilities are subject to rigorous and frequent emissions testing requirements. This compliance testing is conducted by a third-party expert, and the results of our compliance stack testing are reviewed and approved by state environmental agencies and are made publicly available.