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Finnish forest industry commitments to environmental and responsibility issues

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RESPONSIBILITYREQUIRES ACTION

he Finnish forest industry has been actively developing its conduct in environmental and responsibility issues for many decades. We have learned to

utilise raw materials, waste and energy efficiently and to pro-duce more out of less.

We are proud of the fact that the Finnish forest industry today serves as a paragon for efficient environmental action. This should not be taken for granted, as it is the result of systematic

and diligent work. We have also cooperated closely with legis-lators and other stakeholder groups to improve our conduct.

The forest industry has done a lot, but there’s still room for improvement and difficult prob-lems to be resolved. This has spurred Finnish forest industry companies to agree on new environmental and responsibil-ity commitments up to 2020. We want to develop further, improve the standard of our conduct and

to shoulder our responsibility.The forest industry is the

pioneer of bioeconomy. We produce ecologically sustain-able products, which are made of renewable and recyclable raw materials, to the market and thus help reduce society’s dependence on depleting natural resources. In the last resort, we consumers decide, through our personal choices, whether or not consumption is steered towards more sustainable solutions.

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to packaging, communications, transport and all kinds of indus-trial manufacture.

The forest industry shoulders the responsibility for the environ-mental impact of its operations, the efficient and ecological use of energy as well as for the promo-tion of natural resource use and conservation. This is vital for our operations.

We operate responsibly both in Finland and internationally, and require our cooperation partners throughout the entire value chain to do so as well. The responsibility aspect is considered from the forest to production and all the way to the transport and eventual recy-cling of end products. The forest industry has been active in its

promotion of, for example, the utilisation of forest certification schemes and will continue this work in the future in Finland and abroad. We make sure to know where the raw material we use comes from and that its origins are lawful. Wood raw material can be traced from the forest all the way to products.

CHALLENGE:Global population, living standards and consumption growth

Dependence on products that are made out of depleting natural resources must be reduced as consumption grows. One solution is to increase utilisation of renewable materials.

SOLuTION: We must increase the share of renewable materials – sustainably

eople’s environmen-tal awareness and

requirements as consumers have increased in the 2000s.

The wellbeing of our planet is a prerequisite for a good life. People want to live their lives in a way that minimises the load on the environment. They choose products, which are made from renewable natural resources and

can be recycled after use. They favour ecological alternatives in housing and transport. Global cli-mate, energy and environmental challenges call for similar choices.

The forest industry responds to these demands by offering ecologically sustainable products that are manufactured from a renewable and recyclable raw material. The most traditional

industry products are wood products, paper, paperboard, pulp and bioenergy. More recent additions to the product range include various biomaterials such as composites, biopolymers and biochemicals as well as wood-derived biofuels, which will soon enter the market. End-use locations range all the way from construction and decoration

CONSuMPTION CONSuMPTION

76

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

sing a renewable natural resource creates a good starting point for sustain-able business operations

and prosperity. No less than three-quarters of Finland’s land area is covered by forest and annual for-est growth exceeds consumption every year. This makes it possible to increase sustainable forest use. Finnish forests are managed in accordance with the principles of socially, economically and ecologically sustainable forestry. In Finland, forest certification is more wide-spread than in any other country in the world.

Each year, the forests of Finland bind more and more atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest biomass,

such as wood, forest litter and soil, binds almost as much carbon dioxide as is present in the atmo-sphere. Forest regeneration and management ensures that carbon dioxide will continue to be sunk into forests. The ability of Finnish forests to bind carbon dioxide has almost doubled over the last two decades. Carbon dioxide remains stored also in the products of the forest industry.

The forest industry has made considerable investments into safeguarding the biodiversity of commercial forests. The valuable habitats of commercial forests have been charted and, as a rule, they are excluded from forest management measures. Further-

more, retention trees and decay-ing wood are left on logging sites, in addition to which controlled burnings of retention tree groups or entire logging areas are per-formed to conserve and increase structural characteristics that are typical of natural-state forests. The conservation rate of Finn-ish forests stands at about 10%, which is one of the highest figures in all of Europe.

Use of wood in Finland can be increased - sustainably

Source: Finnish Forest Research Institute

mill. m3

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Forest growth

Sustainable felling opportunities

Use of domestic wood

Finland is one of the leading countries in forest conservation in Europe

Finland has the third-highest share of strictly-protected forests in all of Europe. In addition to this, limited felling is permitted in some protected forests. In all, about a tenth of Finland’s forested area is under conservation.

Source: Finnish Statistical Yearbook of Forestry 2012

EstoniaGreeceFINLANDSlovakiaItalyLuxembourgRomaniaCyprusBulgariaLithuaniaDenmarkSloveniaNetherlandsCzech RepublicPolandSwedenLatviaHungaryFranceBelgiumGermanyPortugalMaltaAustriaIrelandSpainUKEuropean Union

8% 6 4 2 0

988

onsideration of the envi-ronmental impact of our operations is important to us. Accordingly, this

impact has reduced significantly over the last few decades. Emis-sions to air and water have fallen to a fraction of earlier levels while production has increased at the same time. This has been enabled

by more advanced production processes and the increased effectiveness of emission clean-ing. For example, the industry has reduced its carbon dioxide emis-sions by 30% in 20 years, even though the volume of production has increased. We have also man-aged to substantially enhance the efficiency of water use – to the

extent that a litre of water will today circulate up to 15 times at the factory.

It is not possible to manufacture forest industry products without water. We utilise 0.2% of Finland’s available water resources. After use and purification, water is returned to the natural cycle.

Forest industry emissions have reduced substantially

-67% Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

Phosphorous (P)

Nitrogen (N)

Adsorbable organic halides (AOX)

Wastewater amount

Nitrogen oxides (NOx)

Sulphur emissions

Particulates

Fossil carbon dioxide (CO2)

Landfill waste

-100% 0%

-73%

-50%

-84%

-51%

-26%

-95%

-86%

-52%

-89%Reduction of emissions relative to forest industry production volumes over the past two decades.

ENVIRONMENTALEXPERT

C

1110

100%

80%

70%

7%

10

he manufacture of our prod-ucts utilises renewable energy, which is generated as a by-product of production. Energy

generated by forest industry mills is also delivered to nearby build-ings. It is thus no wonder that the forest industry is called a bioen-ergy driver. The forest industry has invested more than €1 billion in energy efficiency and bioenergy power plants in the 2000s.

The EU has imposed strict cli-

mate targets for reducing green-house gas emissions and these require action in Finland as well. The forest industry plays a central role in the drive to meet these requirements – our 70% share of overall renewable energy produc-tion makes us by far the biggest producer of renewable energy in Finland.

Diverse use of a renewable and recyclable raw material reduces the need to consume depleting

natural resources like oil. The forest industry is taking Finland forward towards a lower-carbon society.

Renewable wood raw material

CO2 neutral

electricity in production

Share of Finland’s renewable

energy

Share of Finland’s CO

2

emissions

The forest industry produces about 70% of Finland’s renewable energy through its utilisation of renewable wood raw material. Some 80% of the electricity used in production is carbon dioxide neutral.

Plenty of bioenergy as by-product

PRODuCER OF BIOENERGY

1312

1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010

13

Improvements in material efficiency have reduced the amount of landfill waste

The utilisation of waste has helped reduce the amount of landfill waste per tonne of manufactured goods by 89% since 1992.

Waste, 1.000 tonnes/year

1.200

1.000

800

600

400

200

0

Landfill waste Paper and paperboard production

Production, tonnes million/year

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

PARTNER INCOOPERATION

he forest industry has been developing its environment- and responsibility-related

conduct systematically. This development work conti-

nues, as there’s still room for improvement and challenges to resolve. Our expertise has never been higher, and our will to develop is strong. Suc-cess requires cooperation and

dialogue between various actors, a mutual willingness to listen is essential. This is the best way to take matters forward and to improve our conduct.

e take care to utilise all raw materials prudently

following a principle according to which the

waste or by-product of one process is the raw material for the next process. We use our production sidestreams as raw

material for new products or to generate energy. Waste is uti-lised with increasing effective-ness, which reduces the amount of landfill waste. Almost 90% of the forest industry’s waste is recycled as materials or used for energy production.

The amount of material sent to landfills accounts for less than 0.3% of the total volume of raw materials received by mills. Finland’s recycling rate for finished products like paper and paperboard is likewise among the highest in the world.

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ENVIRONMENTEnvironmental impact management, energy and material efficiency

• The share of our climate-positive renew-able energy will be increased and we will continue to be Finland’s most sig-nificant producer of renewable energy. We are committed to the continuous improvement of energy efficiency and will help attain the climate obligations that have been set for Finland.

• Based on voluntary measures and local conditions, we continue improving water-use efficiency and achieve system-atic reductions in waste water load. The target is to reduce the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of waste waters from the production facilities by 10% per tonne of output by 2020 (1). Furthermore, we commit to doing our part to reduce the suspended solids and nutrient loading in waterbodies caused by forestry.

• Our production operations utilise raw materials effectively. We actively study new opportunities for utilizing the side streams of production and continue to develop industrial symbiosis, where one party’s waste is another’s raw material. Our aim is to achieve a 30% reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfills by 2020 (1).

• We reduce the environmental impact of our products throughout their lifecycle. In the wood product industry we extend the lifespan of our climate-positive products and develop product recy-clability. We promote paper and paper-board recycling in all market areas.

1) Year of comparison 2011

NATuRAL RESOuRCESPromoting use and conservation

• We verify the lawful origins of the wood

we consume and promote the use of forest certification systems. The aim is to ensure that at least 80% of the wood and fibre used by the forest industry is certified by 2020. In addition, we promote responsibility in the procurement chains of all of our raw materials.

• We promote the utilisation of a diverse range of different forest management and voluntary conservation measures to develop the biodiversity of forest environ-ments. Our goal is to improve the living conditions of threatened species so that a smaller share of the species, which were identified as being threatened in 2010, is still under threat in 2020. We are commit-ted to the sustainable and responsible use and protection of mires and peatlands.

• The wood consumption of Finnish forest industry corporations does not globally cause rainforest deforestation nor does our corporate land use compete with food production.

SOCIETY Provider of innovative and ecologically sustainable products and solutions

• We respond to the needs of individuals and society and the global climate, energy and environmental challenges in a sus-tainable manner by providing products and solutions based on a renewable and recyclable raw material.

• Our actions are equally responsible on the national and international level, and we require responsibility from our coopera-tion partners throughout the value chain.

• We disclose and report openly on envi-ronmental and responsibility issues and conduct an active dialogue with key stakeholder groups.

The forest industry of Finland wants to keep acting responsibly and to improve the standard of its operations also in the future. In 2011, the forest industry com-menced a discussion on how to volun-tarily develop our conduct related to environmental and responsibility ques-tions. The outcome of this process include the industry’s shared environmental and responsibility commitments up to 2020.

SOCIETYProvider of

innovative and ecologically

sustainable products and solutions

ENVIRONMENTEnvironmental

impact management, energy

and material efficiency

NATuRAL RESOuRCES

Promoting use and

conservation

RESPONSIBILITYat the heart of

developing the bio-economy

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• The Finnish forest industry wants to shoulder its responsibility and will continue to improve its conduct in environment and responsibility-related issues. Finnish forest industry compa-nies have voluntarily agreed on shared environ-mental and responsibility commitments up to 2020.

• The forest industry responds to society’s needs sustainably and contributes to resolving global climate, energy and environmental challenges. Forest industry’s products and solutions, which are based on a renewable and recyclable material, can reduce consumption of depleting natural resources.