INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE
The Kemi bioproduct mill will be world-class in terms of its energy, material and environmental efficiency. The investment, valued at approximately EUR 1.6 billion, is the biggest in the history of Finland’s forest industry.
“We must set high targets for ourselves. We have contin- ued to reduce the volume of water going to the wastewater treatment plant, but our goal is to build a path at the bio product mill that will enable us to eliminate wastewater emissions altogether.” Metsä Fibre is well placed to be a front runner, she says, with a bioproduct mill that refines renewable material us- ing advanced and environmentally sustainable technology. “This is also important to our customers. By complying with the principles of sustainability and continuing to de- velop our operations, we can provide clear added value to their business operations.” SUSTAINABLE USE OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES Wood is a renewable resource, and its uses are much dis- cussed. The pulpwood used at the bioproduct mill, which is often obtained from first thinning, is part of sustainable forest management. Pehu-Lehtonen emphasises the im- portance of using wood sustainably. “We can use renewable resources to produce renewa- ble products and solutions that replace products made of fossil-based materials. In addition, the entire production process must be sustainable.” Metsä Fibre’s sawmills that use logs are also essential to the concept. The wood chips that sawmills produce as a side stream are used in pulp production. Every part of the tree can be used sustainably and resource-efficiently. CLOSED CHEMICAL CYCLES FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY The pulp production process has a closed cycle of cooking chemicals, meaning that the chemicals are regenerated for reuse in the pulp mill cycle. Components that dissolve from wood are recovered during the process and used for biochemicals such as tall oil and turpentine.
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