Metsä Tissue Corporation is committed to promoting sustainable development through its business activities, to continuously improving its operations and to conducting its business in a responsible way, in compliance with the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact.
Recycled fibre
The type and amount of fibre raw material used in our products is defined by the specific quality requirements of each product. Our objective is to primarily use recycled fibre whenever it guarantees adequate quality for the final product. The recovered paper used in the production of recycled fibre is sourced as close as possible to our mills to reduce the environmental impact of transports.
More than 80% of the recovered paper we use in our products is post-consumer waste, and we actively promote the collection of post-consumer paper and board. Our target is to maintain the amount of recycled fibre that we use at its current level, 60%, and to increase the proportion of post-consumer waste that we use from today’s 80% to 90% within the next five years, provided that digitalisation or the use of recovered paper as an energy source does not significantly limit the availability of recovered paper.
Primary fibre
In line with its Corporate Responsibility policy, Metsä Tissue is committed to using only those primary fibre pulps that are sourced from sustainably managed forests, where economic, social and environmental issues are balanced and integrated. We promote reliable forest certification systems such as the PEFC and FSC.
Based on this policy, Metsä Tissue Corporation requires its pulp suppliers to verify and demonstrate the following:
- That their wood suppliers commit to operating legally. They must report the origin of their wood raw material and thereby exclude unknown and illegally harvested sources. They must give information on other relevant sustainability issues upon request.
- That their wood procurement has been conducted in such a way as to safeguard forest biodiversity and the social values of the forest. This includes not procuring wood from controversial sources such as protected areas or areas which have been designated for protection. They must not procure genetically modified wood. In their wood procurement, the traditional rights of indigenous people and local communities to use the forest must be safeguarded.
Metsä Tissue sees forest certification as a good tool for ensuring and communicating sustainable forest management. Metsä Tissue supports forest certification systems based on independent third-party verification, and 100% of the company’s primary fibre pulp suppliers are chain-of-custody certified. The proportion of certified pulp supplied to Metsä Tissue by our pulp manufacturers currently stands at 63%. Working in cooperation with our suppliers, our target is to increase this figure to 80% within five years.
Metsä Tissue mills are covered by certified chain-of-custody systems to ensure traceability of wood-based raw material.
This commitment statement was approved and endorsed by
the Management Team of Metsä Tissue Corporation on 18 December, 2009