View source for Georgia-Pacific

{{Short description|American wood pulp and paper company}}
{{for-multi|the racehorse|Georgia Pacific (Standardbred racehorse)|the 19th century railroad|Georgia Pacific Railway}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Georgia-Pacific LLC
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| traded_as = {{NYSE was|GP}}
| logo = Georgia-Pacific logo.svg
| image = Georgia pacific building atlanta 01.jpg
| image_caption = [[Georgia-Pacific Tower]], the headquarters of Georgia-Pacific in [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]].
| fate = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1927}}, in [[Augusta, Georgia]], U.S.
| founder = [[Owen Robertson Cheatham]]
| location_city = [[Atlanta, Georgia]]
| location_country = United States
| location = [[Georgia-Pacific Tower]]
| area_served = 
| industry = [[Pulp and paper industry|Pulp and paper]]
| products = 
| services = 
| market cap = 
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| aum = 
| assets = 
| equity = 
| owner = 
| num_employees = 35,000 (3Q 2019)
| parent = [[Koch Industries]]
| divisions = 
| subsid = 
| homepage = {{official URL}}
| footnotes = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/41077/000119312505039002/0001193125-05-039002.txt|title=FORM 10-K}}</ref>
| intl = 
}}

'''Georgia-Pacific LLC''' is an American [[pulp and paper]] company based in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Georgia-Pacific LLC |url=https://search.gleif.org/#/record/L2EVHWFHVAQK72TMH265 |publisher=LEI Reference Data |access-date=13 December 2021}}</ref> and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of [[Tissue paper|tissue]], [[Pulp (paper)|pulp]], [[paper]], toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, [[building products]] and related [[paper chemicals|chemicals]], and other forest products—largely made from its own [[timber]].<ref name="sold_2005_11_14_nytimes">[[Andrew Ross Sorkin|Sorkin, Andrew Ross]]: [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/business/paper-maker-georgiapacific-to-be-sold-to-koch.html "Paper Maker Georgia-Pacific to Be Sold to Koch,"] November 14, 2005, ''[[New York Times]],'' retrieved November 24, 2023</ref><ref name="longtime_ceo_2009_06_27_wsj">Miller, Stephen: [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124606678295264019 "Longtime CEO of Georgia-Pacific Built Largest U.S. Manufacturer of Plywood,"] June 27, 2009, ''[[Wall Street Journal]],'' retrieved November 24, 2023</ref> Since 2005, it has been an independently operated and managed subsidiary of [[Koch Industries]].<ref name="sold_2005_11_14_nytimes" /> As of fall 2019, the company employed more than 35,000 people at more than 180 locations in North America, South America and Europe.

==History==
[[Image:GEORGIA PACIFIC LUMBER MILL - NARA - 545925.tif|thumb|left|Georgia-Pacific lumber mill in [[Samoa, California]] (May 1972).]]
Georgia-Pacific was founded by [[Owen Robertson Cheatham]] on September 22, 1927 in [[Augusta, Georgia]], as the Georgia Hardwood Lumber Co.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Lamberg |first1=Juha-Antti |title=The Evolution of Competitive Strategies in Global Forestry Industries: Comparative Perspectives |last2=Näsi |first2=Juha |last3=Ojala |first3=Jari |last4=Sajasalo |first4=Pasi |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4020-4015-3 |pages=68, 70 |language=en}}</ref> He started the company through the acquisition of a wholesale hardwood lumber yard. The nascent company encountered difficulties two years after its incorporation as the [[United States]] fell into the [[Great Depression]].<ref name=":1" /> Due to slow demand, the company had only five employees in 1934.<ref name=":1" /> Over the years it expanded, adding [[sawmill]]s and [[plywood]] plants.  The company acquired its first West Coast facility in 1947 and changed its name to Georgia-Pacific Plywood & Lumber Company in 1948.

In 1956, the company changed its name to Georgia-Pacific Corporation. In 1957—led by new president [[Robert B. Pamplin]] (who would lead for two decades)<ref name="longtime_ceo_2009_06_27_wsj" />—the company entered the pulp and paper business by building a [[kraft pulp]] and [[linerboard]] mill at [[Toledo, Oregon]]. This was the only pulp and paper mill that the company ever built.<ref name=":1" /> The company continued to make a series of acquisitions, including Union Lumber (owned by [[Boise Cascade]]) in 1973,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://issuu.com/building-products/docs/mm_03011973/s/28592665 | title=Details on B-C's latest sell off }}</ref> US Plywood in 1987, [[American Forest Products Corporation]] in 1988, [[Great Northern Paper Company|Great Northern Nekoosa]] in 1990, and the [[Fort James Corporation]] in 2000. The Fort James Corporation was the result of a series of mergers of enterprises that included the [[Fort Howard Paper Company|Fort Howard Corporation]], the [[James River Corporation]] and [[Crown-Zellerbach]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Crown-Zellerbach |url=http://nndb.net/company/779/000117428/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703194116/http://nndb.net/company/779/000117428 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-07-03 |work=Notable Names Database |publisher=Soylent Communications |year=2009 |access-date=2010-02-04 }}</ref>

In 1996, Georgia-Pacific sold its operations in [[Martell, California]] and its surrounding timberlands to [[Sierra Pacific Industries]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB851610813871313000 | title=Georgia-Pacific Agrees to Sell Operations to Sierra Pacific | work=Wall Street Journal | date=27 December 1996 }}</ref> In 1999, Georgia-Pacific sold its California timber lands to Hawthorne Timber.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/02/business/company-news-timber-company-to-sell-california-woodlands.html | title=Company News; Timber Company to Sell California Woodlands | work=The New York Times | date=2 November 1999 }}</ref> In 2000, Georgia-Pacific sold its remaining timber lands to [[Plum Creek Timber]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/19/business/company-news-plum-creek-to-buy-georgia-pacific-timber-unit.html | title=Company News; Plum Creek to Buy Georgia-Pacific Timber Unit | work=The New York Times | date=19 July 2000 }}</ref> In August 2001, Georgia-Pacific completed the sale of four un-coated paper mills and their associated businesses and assets to Canadian papermaker [[Domtar]] for {{US$|1.65 billion}}.

It was announced on November 13, 2005 that Georgia-Pacific would be acquired by [[Koch Industries]].<ref name="sold_2005_11_14_nytimes" /><ref>Koch Industries newsroom</ref> On December 23, 2005, [[Koch Industries]] finalized the $21 billion acquisition of Georgia-Pacific. Georgia-Pacific was removed from the NYSE (it had traded under the symbol '''GP''') and shareholders surrendered their shares for about $48 per share.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Berman |first1=Dennis |last2=Terhune |first2=Chad |date=November 14, 2005 |title=Koch Industries Agrees To Buy Georgia-Pacific |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113191545298295904 |access-date=August 13, 2024 |website=Wall Street Journal}}</ref>

The [[Georgia-Pacific Tower]] in Atlanta continues to house the company's headquarters. The [[Crown Zellerbach Building]] was built as the headquarters of [[Crown Zellerbach]] in San Francisco in 1959.

On January 11, 2010, Georgia-Pacific signed an agreement to acquire Grant Forest Products' [[oriented strand board]] ("OSB") facility at [[Englehart, Ontario]] and the associated facility at [[Earlton, Ontario]], as well as its OSB facilities at Clarendon and [[Allendale, South Carolina]], for approximately $400 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gp.com/newsroom/newsreleases/1_11_10.html|title=Georgia-Pacific News|access-date=2010-01-27|archive-date=2017-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610124117/https://www.gp.com/newsroom/newsreleases/1_11_10.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The transaction closed in July 2013, following Canadian regulatory review and US court approval under the [[Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act|Hart–Scott–Rodino merger review process]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Georgia-Pacific|title=Georgia-Pacific Completes Asset Acquisition Of Temple-Inland Building Products|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/georgia-pacific-completes-asset-acquisition-of-temple-inland-building-products-2013-07-19|publisher=[[MarketWatch]]|access-date=26 July 2013}}</ref>

On June 19, 2014, Georgia-Pacific announced it would acquire SPG Holdings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2014/06/20/georgia-pacific-to-buy-spg-holdings-adding.html |title=Georgia-Pacific to buy SPG Holdings, adding to Green Bay holdings |work=Milwaukee Business Journal |date=June 20, 2014 |access-date=July 14, 2014}}</ref>

In November 2017, Georgia-Pacific engaged in a corporate restructuring process using a legal maneuver known as [[Texas two-step bankruptcy|the Texas Two-Step]], wherein it divided its assets and liabilities into two separate entities. Bestwall, the newly formed subsidiary company housing all of Georgia-Pacific’s asbestos liabilities, then relocated to North Carolina, where it declared bankruptcy and paused over 64,000 personal injury claims.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bestwall LLC v. Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants, No. 24-1493 (4th Cir. 2025) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca4/24-1493/24-1493-2025-08-01.html |access-date=2025-09-29 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref> 

In 2018, Georgia-Pacific's facilities in [[Taylorsville, Mississippi]] were the site of a [[2018 Taylorsville Georgia-Pacific strike|two-week labor strike]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 30, 2018|title=Scheduling issues cause Georgia Pacific workers to strike|url=https://apnews.com/article/79ba52a573104ce1a2c6c97d3ba53d53|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105142629/https://apnews.com/article/79ba52a573104ce1a2c6c97d3ba53d53|archive-date=November 5, 2020|access-date=November 6, 2020|website=[[AP News]]|publisher=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

In 2025, the company acquired Anchor Packaging, a prominent manufacturing company out of Northeast Arkansas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jared |first=George |date=2025-09-09 |title=Georgia-Pacific acquires Anchor Packaging |url=https://talkbusiness.net/2025/09/georgia-pacific-acquires-anchor-packaging/ |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Talk Business & Politics |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Brand names==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2022}}
[[File:DensGlassSheathing.jpg|thumb|DensGlass Sheathing]]
Georgia-Pacific operates under many different brand names.
* Angel Soft and Quilted Northern are [[toilet paper]] and [[facial tissue]] brands.
* Blue Ribbon, Clutter Cutter, DensArmor Plus, DensDeck, DensGlass, DensShield, DryPly, FireGuard, GP Lam, Hushboard, Nautilus, Ply-Bead, Plytanium, Southern Gold, Sta-Strait, Thermostat, ToughRock, Wood I Beam, and XJ 85 are building and remodeling brands.
* Sparkle and Brawny are [[paper towel]] brands.
* Vanity Fair is a premium [[napkin]] brand.
* Dixie Insulair, PerfecTouch, and Ultra are [[tableware]] brands.
* Advantage, Image Plus, and Spectrum are office paper brands.

Discontinued brands include Soft n' Gentle (toilet paper), Zee (napkins and paper towels), and Mardi Gras (napkins and paper towels). The toilet paper and paper towel brands are sold in different price segments, with the Angel Soft and Sparkle brands being more value-priced and the Quilted Northern and Brawny brands being premium offerings.

==Environmental record==
[[File:Georgia-Pacific Broadway facility 1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Georgia-Pacific, Broadway facility, in [[Green Bay, Wisconsin|Green Bay]], [[Wisconsin]], was formerly owned and operated by Fort Howard.]]

[[File:Georgia Pacific offices in Diboll, TX IMG 3901.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Georgia-Pacific offices in [[Diboll, Texas|Diboll]], south of [[Lufkin, Texas|Lufkin]], [[Texas]]]]

Stephen Engelberg of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that in 1995, Georgia-Pacific persuaded the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee]] to approve an amendment that derailed a pending [[E.P.A.]] investigation of [[Weyerhaeuser|Weyerhaeuser Company]], [[Louisiana-Pacific Corporation]], and Georgia-Pacific, arguing that the E.P.A. was "unfairly applying present-day standards to decisions made 10 to 15 years ago", and that the E.P.A. test method overstated the emissions from wood products factories.<ref name="timber">{{Cite news|last=Engelberg|first=Stephen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/21/business/tall-timber-and-the-epa.html|title=Tall Timber And the E.P.A.|date=1995-05-21|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Georgia-Pacific's opponents believed "the measure could allow Georgia-Pacific avoid installing pollution gear at many of its plants."  Engelberg wrote, "Nonetheless, [Georgia-Pacific] said they would install controls at plants that need them."<ref name="timber" />

Georgia-Pacific is also involved in several [[environmental remediation|remediation sites]], many of which were [[landfill]]s used by other manufacturers, municipalities and other businesses, and individuals. Two of the primary remediation sites - the [[Fox River (Green Bay tributary)|Fox River]] in Wisconsin and [[Kalamazoo River]] in Michigan - involve the cleanup of [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCBs]]. Georgia Pacific is contributing to dam removal work as part of an effort to clean up PCB contamination in Kalamazoo.<ref>[http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/08/georgia_pacific_pitches_propos.html Georgia-Pacific pitches $80-$90 million plan to remove Otsego-area dams as part of Kalamazoo River cleanup] August 23, 2012 Kalamazoo News</ref>

In 2007, the EPA announced legal agreements among itself, [[Michigan]], Georgia-Pacific, and Millennium Holdings (a corporate successor of the [[Allied Paper Corporation]]) requiring the companies to clean up an estimated $21,000,000 worth of environmental damage to the Plainwell Impoundment Area.  Another settlement required an additional $15,000,000 of environmental work on the [[Kalamazoo Superfund Site|Kalamazoo River Superfund Site]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/4b779454038214c1852572a000651fe2/7d33aaa01e7959bb85257290004fcd4c!OpenDocument|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805205814/http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/4b779454038214c1852572a000651fe2/7d33aaa01e7959bb85257290004fcd4c!OpenDocument|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 5, 2012|title=Environmental Protection Agency|website=epa.gov|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>

Georgia-Pacific is the largest user of [[De-inked pulp|de-ink fiber]] in the world, and its subsidiary company '''GP Harmon''' trades in the recycled material.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Brian |date=October 14, 2005 |title=Paper Recycling Supplement -- World View |url=https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/paper-recycling-supplement--world-view/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=Recycling Today}}</ref> The company has expanded into other markets in countries like Mexico and China.  In 2005, president of the division Simon Davies estimated that China would require the import of scrap paper from the US and elsewhere for at least 15 years.  In the long run, he asserted, the growth of the [[Economy of China|Chinese middle class]] would be correlated with a large increase in paper production, and having viable paper recovery systems in place would be of great value to them.<ref name=RT>{{cite web|last=Taylor |first=Brian |title=Paper Recycling Supplement--World View |url=http://www.recyclingtoday.com/Article.aspx?article_id=19752 |publisher=Recycling Today |access-date=25 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222000151/http://www.recyclingtoday.com/Article.aspx?article_id=19752 |archive-date=22 February 2014 }}</ref>

The Georgia-Pacific Paper Mill in [[Crossett, Arkansas]] was the subject of environmental documentary film ''[[Company Town (film)|Company Town]]'', released in 2016. The film alleges that improper waste disposal by the mill has caused a cluster of cancer incidents in the area around the mill.<ref name=lat2017>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-company-town-review-20171207-story.html|title=Review: 'Company Town' takes aim at factory owners in Arkansas|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Goldstein|first=Gary|date=December 7, 2017|access-date=June 1, 2024}}</ref>

==Awards and charity==
In 2009, the EPA awarded Koch subsidiary Georgia-Pacific its SmartWay Excellence award, "an innovative collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the freight industry designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing air pollution,"  and specifically commended Georgia-Pacific.  The award states:

<blockquote>
In, 2008, 93 percent of Georgia-Pacific's freight was hauled by SmartWay Transport Partners, an increase of 47 percent over the previous year.  Of the 145 carriers Georgia-Pacific uses, 104 were SmartWay carriers, an increase of 33 percent over 2007.  In 2008, Georgia-Pacific experienced tremendous growth in its intermodal shipping.  Georgia-Pacific was able to work with its customers to increase lead-time and create more intermodal freight shipments without significantly impacting customer's needs, thus increasing intermodal loads by 39 percent in 2008 as compared to 2007.  Georgia-Pacific uses advanced software to pack loads more efficiently and increase cube utilization in its trailers.  The company also reduced empty loads by 10 percent, increased utilization of local fleets, and established an idling reduction policy in place at its 12 distribution centers. In the summer of 2008, Georgia Pacific held a fuel conservation summit to explore ways for shippers and carriers to work together to further reduce fuel consumption from its freight transport operations.<ref>{{cite web|title=SmartWay Transport Partnership|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:aD8B79pziloJ:www.epa.gov/smartwaylogistics/documents/2009awards.pdf+Georgia-Pacific+its+SmartWay+Excellenc&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgYHLYqETjXLZxCkHpdTWJIRUfg7RXXzZ12eExh1_VChgXUrfa_opaHXbmf-5cec_Ampt74rtPDbqLEVID9LP__3V_Qt7smMVxR710gvFnxpsbN8sstok5aWhzA8yqimyrDv2W1&sig=AHIEtbRRw8nRWYW_IQSG0SZnqv1how5hQg|work=[[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]] |access-date=23 April 2011}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The Georgia-Pacific Foundation Scholarship Program for Employees' Children has awarded nearly $10.5 million in college scholarships to children of the company's employees between 1988 and 2013.<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff reports|title=Girl with local ties wins 2013 Georgia-Pacific Scholarship|date=17 July 2013|url=http://www.demopolistimes.com/2013/07/17/girl-with-local-ties-wins-2013-georgia-pacific-scholarship/|publisher=Demopolis Times|access-date=25 July 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{official website}}
*[http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=Crown%20Zellerbach&CISOFIELD1=descri&CISOOP2=exact&CISOBOX2=&CISOFIELD2=title&CISOOP3=any&CISOBOX3=&CISOFIELD3=title&CISOOP4=none&CISOBOX4=&CISOFIELD4=title&CISOROOT=/reports Historical Annual Reports for Crown Zellerbach]
*[http://www.harmongp.com World's largest recycler of recovered wastepaper]

{{Koch Industries}}
{{Atlanta companies}}
{{FormerORCompanies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Georgia-Pacific| ]]
[[Category:1927 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:2005 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1927]]
[[Category:American corporate subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Forest products companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Koch Industries]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1927]]
[[Category:Pulp and paper companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Renewable resource companies established in 1927]]