As far as environment is concerned, cartonboard has a major asset: it is derived from a resource - wood - that is fully renewable when it is correctly managed. Metsä Board therefore invested very early in the PEFC and FSC certification of its forest resources management and in clean production processes. Furthermore, the Group has been a pioneer in cardboard lightweighting and has recently made major investments in the use of forest bio-resources for energy production.

Metsä Board’s paperboards use fresh (non-recycled) fibres sources from Northern European forests. The fibres are of known origin and all the raw materials used in manufacturing can be traced to source.

Praised environmental efforts

The group has set a number of sustainability objectives for the period 2009-2020, such as, to improve the energy efficacy, to decrease CO2 emissions for each ton produced, to decrease the quantity of water necessary to produce a ton of product. Some of these objectives have already been fulfilled!

In this field, reliable information is important. Metsä Board reports all important environmental information to CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), an international, not-for-profit organisation providing a global system to measure, disclose, manage and share environmental information. In 2015, Metsä Board received a full score of 100 for the transparency of its environmental impact reporting from CDP and was also included in the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI).

Thanks to actions to improve water security and better manage this shared resource Metsä Board, has been awarded with a position on CDP’s Water A List. In 2015, only eight companies in the world received an A grade from CDP for their use of water. Metsä Board is the only forest industry company and the only European company on this list.

The third recognition from CDP was received in the materials sector of the forest programme, where Metsä Board was awarded Leadership status, together with eight other companies.

While consumers pay far more attention to the ethicality, ecology and safety of the products they choose to buy, Metsä Board’s commitment to a stringent environmental policy is a major asset for their customers.

Lightweight cartonboards

Commitments on resources and processes would not be complete without a special attention to the products themselves. For the past thirty years, Metsä Board has been investing in lightweighting cartonboards with a double goal: to reduce the environmental impact of their products and to address the needs of their customers in terms of cost and quality.

Today, Metsä Board’s range of sustainable, lightweight paperboard achieves excellent strength at low basis weights. Once again, the group’s strategy meets the very latest concerns of its customers. Indeed, lightweight cartons not only contribute to save resources, to reduce greenhouse gases emissions during transport, but they are also perfectly in line with the expectations of the actors of the booming e-commerce sector.

"For instance, there is a noticeable explosion in sales of beauty box delivered by post. Every month, consumers receive a pretty box containing small format beauty products (skincare, makeup, perfumes, etc.), for about ten euros. The boxes give the opportunity to discover the latest launches but also to test the products before buying larger sizes. The lightweighing of our cartonboards and liners is accompanying this trend, both for the secondary and tertiary packaging. Thanks to lighter cartonboards, post expenses can be reduced dramatically," says Christophe Baudry, Beautycare & Healthcare Commercial Director.