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New Annual Sustainability Report Shows Weyerhaeuser Reducing Environmental Impact

PRNewswire
FEDERAL WAY, Wash.
Jun 27, 2005

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY), one of the world's largest forest products companies, continues to make gains reducing air and water emissions, according to its latest citizenship and environment report released today.

  (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-a
          http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-b )

"Over the past decade, Weyerhaeuser has significantly improved its environmental performance and reduced its environmental footprint," said Steven R. Rogel, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We are part of the environmental solution for the future -- both in how we make our products and in what we produce."

Titled "Roadmap for Sustainability," the 96-page report describes the company's practices with respect to corporate ethics, managing environmental performance, practicing sustainable forestry, reducing pollution, and conserving natural resources. It also addresses how the company treats employees and supports communities. The full report is available online at www.wy.com/environment.

Since 1999, per ton of production, Weyerhaeuser mills have reduced waste going into landfills by 45 percent and cut energy consumption by 27 percent. Since 1996, wood products facilities have reduced air emissions of carbon monoxide by 71 percent, volatile organic compounds by 59 percent, and particulate matter by 67 percent. Because Weyerhaeuser no longer uses elemental chlorine for bleaching paper, releases of dioxin in wastewater have been practically eliminated.

The company uses virtually every portion of the logs brought into its mills, recycles 98 percent of the chemicals required for making pulp and paper, and generates 70 percent of its pulp and paper mill energy needs from the manufacturing process. Since 1980, it has reduced the amount of water required to produce a ton of pulp or paper by 59 percent.

  Other highlights include these facts from 2004:

  -- Collected 6.7 million tons of recycled paper, a new company record,
     representing 13 percent of all paper recovered in the United States
     last year.
  -- Averaged 35 percent postconsumer recycled content across all paper
     products.
  -- Planted more than 111 million trees.
  -- Contributed $15.1 million to charitable causes.

During 2004, the company inventoried its greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of carbon stored in its forests and products. The data showed that for 2004, the company acted as a net "storer" of carbon, sequestering more than 3.5 times the amount of GHG it emitted from the use of fossil fuel. Greenhouse gases (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide, are known to trap heat, which some researchers say may be increasing Earth's average temperature.

The report was prepared in accordance with the 2002 Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines, a voluntary process for standard reporting on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of a company's activities, products and services. It lists and references a number of the company's policies, including the company's position on old-growth forests, tropical forests and boreal forests.

In the social area in 2004, more than 22,000 volunteers -- Weyerhaeuser employees, retirees, family members and friends -- contributed more than 163,000 hours to 356 projects benefiting 150 communities in 33 states and four Canadian provinces.

The report lists third-party recognition the company received in the past year, including that Weyerhaeuser was the only North American forest products company listed among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World compiled by the internationally recognized investment research firm Innovest.

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest integrated forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900. In 2004, sales were $22.7 billion. It has offices or operations in 19 countries, with customers worldwide. Weyerhaeuser is principally engaged in the growing and harvesting of timber; the manufacture, distribution and sale of forest products; and real estate construction, development and related activities. Additional information about Weyerhaeuser's businesses, products and practices is available at http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ .

  SIDEBAR

                   Weyerhaeuser by the Numbers in 2004

     Employees                             53,600
     Managed forests                       38 million acres (15 million
                                            hectares)
     Trees planted                         111 million
     Harvest rate                          1%
     Homes built and delivered             5,264
     Percent of U.S. forests
      certified                            100%
     Percent of Canadian forests
      certified                            98%
     Tons of paper recovered               6.7 million
     Average amount of postconsumer
      recycled content in paper
      products produced by
      Weyerhaeuser mills                   35%
     Percent reduction in the
      amount of water required
      to produce a ton of pulp or
      paper since 1980                     59%
     Percent of chemicals reused
      for making pulp and paper            98%
     Percent of energy needs for
      pulp and paper mills met
      by using greenhouse-gas-neutral
      fuels                                70%
     Tons of carbon dioxide equivalents
      effectively removed from atmosphere
      by operations or products            19 million
     Grants made by the Weyerhaeuser
      Company Foundation since 1948        $173 million

   Source:  2004 Roadmap for Sustainability
            Weyerhaeuser Company
            All data for 2004

      For more information:
      Media - Frank Mendizabal, 253-924-3357
      Analysts - Kathryn McAuley, 253-924-2058
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-b
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: Weyerhaeuser Company

CONTACT: media, Frank Mendizabal, +1-253-924-3357, or analysts, Kathryn
McAuley, +1-253-924-2058, both of Weyerhaeuser Company

Web site: http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/

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