M-real provides carbon footprint calculations for all its products

Thursday, 20 November 2008

M-real, a producer of packaging board and paper,  has announced that it will now be providing carbon footprint calculations for all its products.  M-real, and its parent group Metsäliitto, have also launched a new Climate Programme, targeting investment towards projects that produce immediate positive environmental impacts.  As part of the programme, all M-real production units will have an energy efficiency system in place by the end of 2009.   Jukka Karppinen, VP Environmental Affairs of Metsäliitto, says: “As well as our own efforts to help control climate change, we want to provide information that enables our customers to do the same, and the product-specific carbon footprint is an excellent example of this. We also want to call for recognition of the contribution the paper industry makes to carbon dioxide absorption via responsible forestry.  For example, the forests in Finland annually absorb about 30 million tonnes of CO2 (net absorption). In Finland as a whole, the annual gross growth in the volume of wood in managed forests is the equivalent of a 1m high x 1m wide pile of wood stretching 2.5 times around the world,” Karppinen adds.   Carbon footprint calculations are available for all M-real’s packaging boards and papers, using the ‘ten toes’ Carbon Footprint Framework developed by CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries) to allow meaningful comparisons across different products.  M-real’s calculations cover the manufacturing processes of pulp, board and paper; the transportation of wood raw material, pulp, and the finished products; and emissions from electricity used in manufacture.  Customers requiring carbon footprint reports for individual M-real products should contact their local sales office. M-real’s Climate Programme has four main aims: • Responsible use of renewable raw materials • Increasing the share of energy production based on waste or wood based fuels • Continuous improvement in energy efficiency • Continuing to pioneer lighter-weight product development with the focus on environmental impacts   The company began investing systematically in energy efficiency in 2006, resulting in a reduction of CO2 emissions by some 100,000 tonnes a year. This is the equivalent to emissions from 15,000 cars, each driving 40,000km a year.  Work continues with the implementation of the Energy Efficiency System, whereby energy efficiency will become an integral part of M-real’s management systems by the end of 2009. The company is also increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in its total energy consumption – wood-based and wood-waste fuels now accounting for 63% of M-real’s own energy production

 

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