Fibre customer magazine 2019/2020

REDUCING OUR CARBON EMISSIONS BY

3,230 tonnes Metsä Fibre’s Äänekoski bioproduct mill meets the high sustainability standards of the future. “We want to be a forerunner in PRODUCTION SIDE STREAMS PUT TO USE Implementation of the circular economy at Äänekoski is at an TIINA TUPPURAINEN, photo VR TRANSPOINT

responsibility. We consider sustain- ability throughout the entire value chain, and our goal is for our mills to be fossil-free by 2030,” says Kristian Isaksson , the Development Manager of Metsä Fibre’s supply chain. This line of thinking is visible in the bioproduct mill’s logistics. Wood processing and pulp loading are carried out with electric machines. The pulp distribution centre has been automated, and the mill area includes electric trains. Most of the pulp is exported, and it is transported to the export harbour of Vuosaari in Helsinki via a network of electric trains. The logistics have been planned in co- operation with the Finnish national railway company VR Transpoint. “VR Transpoint is Metsä Group’s strategic partner in implementing responsible logistics solutions. The train connection from Äänekoski bioproduct mill to Vuosaari harbour represents the most ecological way of moving the flow of goods,” adds Isaksson. In total, these solutions save 1,200,000 litres of fossil fuel a year, which corresponds to 3,230 tonnes of carbon emissions.

advanced stage, and the wood raw material is used as fully as possible. The product gas produced from bark is used in the mill’s own pro- cesses where it replaces 45,000 cubic metres of heavy fuel oil every year. In Metsä Fibre, resource efficiency is the utmost important goal. The aim of production is to make full use of all side streams. The biogas unit pro- duces biopellets and biogas from the wastewater treatment plant’s sludge. Specialty Minerals Nordic, which operates in the mill area, uses the carbon dioxide generated in the lime kiln for the production of precipitated calcium carbonates. The bioproduct mill also has a sulphuric acid unit. As the mill area is quite compact, the transport and pumping distances between the various production units are also short. • “In total, these solutions save 1,200,000 litres of fossil fuel a year, which corresponds to 3,230 tonnes of carbon emissions.”

Pulp loading into electric trains carried out in Äänekoski

MORE THAN SELF-SUFFICIENT Roughly 25 per cent of the bioelectricity produced in Finland is generated by Metsä Fibre. The steam generated at the bioproduct mill is also used to provide heat for the district heating network in the town of Ääne- koski and in the production of, the food company, Valio’s Aura blue cheese.