Performance Evaluation of Pulp and Paper Mills: Bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The pulp and paper industry converts roundwood and recycled fibre, collected from wastepaper into printing and writing papers. The pulp and paper mills in Ontario have been facing extreme competitive pressures, which have affected their performance leading to several mill closures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the relative performance of three types of Ontario's pulp and paper mills (using all fibre, only roundwood fibre, and only recycled fibre). This study uses bootstrap data envelopment analysis and the results indicate low levels of overall technical and managerial efficiencies. The results of this study provide policy makers with detailed performance analysis so that future input resources can be reallocated to improve the performance of the pulp and paper mills in Ontario. It is recommended that the pulp and paper mills using recycled fibre require huge capital investments to install de-inking technology to improve performance.