Sustainability 2030 targets

Investments drive energy efficiency forward in leaps. Key investments in recent years to improve energy efficiency include development programme of the Kemi board mill and the renewal of the turbine and generator at the Kyro board mill. Above all, results are achieved by continuously developing operations in the daily routines of mills. Our operations comply with the requirements of certified quality, environmental management and energy management systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001).

To achieve the target of zero fossil-based CO2 emissions (Scopes 1 and 2), Metsä Board has a plan for investments and measures to replace fossil fuels and purchase electricity from fossil-free sources. In addition, Metsä Board invests in the efficient use of energy, water and materials. In recent years, key investments in achieving fossil-free production have been the renewal of the recovery boiler and turbine at the Husum pulp mill and the renewal of the turbine at the Kyro board mill. Future investments include the electrification of boilers and processes that still use fossil fuels.

In the value chain (Scope 3), emissions will be reduced by replacing fossil fuels in transport with fossil-free alternatives. In addition, emissions from logistics will be continuously reduced through efficient route planning, minimising transport distances and optimising fill rates. To achieve this goal, we have agreed on joint emissions reduction targets with logistics suppliers such as VR, Royal Wagenborg and Navalis Shipping.

The transition to fully fossil-free raw materials is supported by the Metsä Group-wide strategic R&D and procurement development programme. This includes 1) long-term laboratory and pilot-scale studies and mill test runs, 2) mill-scale packaging material experiments, and monitoring the needs of customers and global markets, and 3) developing procurement systems to reliably and accurately monitor the share of fossil-based raw materials.

2030 indicators:

+10% Improvement in energy efficiency from the 2018 level
0 tonnes Fossil-based carbon dioxide emissions (Scope 1 + Scope 2 market-basedt)
-30%/tkm Greenhouse gas emissions from logistics purchased by Metsä Board from the 2022 level (Scope 3, category 4)
100% Fossil-free raw materials and packaging materials excluding wood and purchased pulp, share of dry tons*

*Renewable wood fibre is our main raw material. From 2025 onwards, wood fibre  will be excluded from the fossil-free materials target to facilitate the monitoring of progress in the fossil-free status of raw materials other than wood. In addition, recycled fossil-based material such as recycled plastic for the packaging of our products will be considered fossil-free in the calculation. This is due to the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation’s requirement for recycled content in packaging materials.

Metsä Group’s Wood supply and forest management services are responsible for Metsä Board’s wood procurement. Therefore these targets are set at the Metsä Group level.

To promote carbon sequestration in forests Metsä Group’s climate actions in forests include the following:

• The forest is quickly renewed after regeneration felling. The faster and better a new forest is established, the sooner the forest will begin to bind carbon from the atmosphere. Whenever available, seed and seedling material of domestic tree species from seed orchards is used in regeneration. The use of material from seed orchards helps trees grow better than naturally generated trees.
• Young stand management is used to ensure that stands remain vigorous, and growth is focused on the best trees.
• Forest fertilisation is used to improve tree growth and vitality

Increasing continuous cover forestry in peatlands helps combat climate change by minimising greenhouse gas emissions from forests. Continuous cover forestry aims to keep groundwater levels stable, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere and impacts on waterbodies.

Greenhouse gas emissions are highest in lush peatlands. The Metsä Group Plus forest management model therefore encourages forest owners to apply continuous cover forestry in spruce-dominated lush peatlands.

2030 indicators at the Metsä Group Level:

+30% Forest regeneration and young stand management*
+50% Forest fertilisation*
+30% Share of continuous cover forestry in peatland forest regeneration

* Hectares, compared to 2018

The key investments reducing process water use, i.e. improving  water-use efficiency, in recent years include the renewal of the recovery boiler at the Husum pulp mill, the expansion of the folding boxboard production capacity at the Husum board mill, and the development programme at the Kemi board mill. 

Resource efficiency is the starting point for new investments. In addition, smaller adjustments to and optimisation of water use is important. The actions improve water recycling and reduce water withdrawal from waterbodies

To minimise process waste, Metsä Board as part of Metsä Group has an ongoing strategic R&D programme for processing production side streams for use in the circular economy. Metsä Group is researching and developing various new uses for side streams, both internally and with partners. 

Most production side streams are already being utilized, and only a small part of production side streams becomes waste disposed of in landfills. Wood-based waste, sludge, ashes and lime fractions are used in earthworks and landscaping, as well as in fertilisers, chemical applications and energy production. 

Our operations comply with the requirements of certified quality, environmental management and energy management systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001).

2030 indicators:

-35% Reduction in process water use per produced tonne from the 2018 level
0 tonnes Process waste delivered to landfills

Metsä Group’s Wood supply and forest management services are responsible for Metsä Board’s wood procurement. Therefore these targets are set at the Metsä Group level.

To improve the state of forest nature, Metsä Group has several measures:

• Diversifying tree species in forests: Different tree species and their different life stages support their own specific species. Diverse forests are resilient to the risks of a warming climate, such as weather events or insect damage.
• Increasing tree species diversity at different stages of the forest’s development: leaving a diverse variety of different tree species in the forest, both in young stand management and thinning operations.
• Increasing the amount of decaying wood for species that require it.
• Ensuring that herb-rich forests and the sunlit slopes of ridges provide habitats for endangered species. 
• Increasing the amount of burned wood for species that depend on it.

These measures will be accelerated by initiatives such as the Metsä Group Plus forest management model, which takes better account of forest biodiversity and forest nature when carrying out forestry operations. The model includes measures that safeguard and improve the state of forest nature more comprehensively than is required by current standard practices. The use of these measures is agreed in connection with wood trade and orders for young stand management. The service is available to owner-members.

2030 indicators at the Metsä Group Level:

100% Rregeneration felling sites have retention trees
100% Felling sites have high biodiversity stumps
0% Sites have spruce remaining as the only tree species after young stand management
10,000 Measures to increase natural biodiversity

Accidents are prevented through common occupational safety standards and proactive safety work, such as risk assessment, safety rounds and training.  Every person working at Metsä Board will receive a safety induction on the work environment’s key hazards before start of the employment. 

We actively report safety observations. Every accident, incident and near miss is investigated, and leads to corrective or preventive actions. This ensures that we can avoid the recurrence of accidents or incidents. Mills and businesses will share these experiences, the lessons learned and other best practices with each other.

All Metsä Board mills comply with the ISO 45001 standard for occupational health and safety. Also the contractor employees are required to follow the same health and safety requirements.

2030 indicators:

0 accidents at work, own employees (TRIF)
0 accidents at work, contractor employees (TRIF)

Employee engagement is measured annually with an employee survey. Based on this employee survey, measures are determined annually, and their implementation is monitored regularly.

In recent years, key measures to increase engagement and wellbeing have included an individual working time model, the training of supervisors in managing wellbeing at work, and a concept for a long-term development programme, Metsä Group’s academies, which aims to identify future competence needs and develop core competencies important to the company.

Future key measures include the implementation of a global competence management system, and the development of tools for personnel in career and development planning.

2030 indicators:

AAA Employee engagement, index (scale 0-100)    
100% The implementation of the measures defined based on the employee survey

To promote diversity, equality and inclusion, the priorities of the Metsä for All -vision are equality and gender equality, diversity, inclusion and cultural change. They guide the development of personnel-related processes and the annually defined measures to achieve the vision.

Continuous development involves an annual pay equity survey, regular personnel training and ensuring that the gender distribution in management training programmes is in line with DEI objectives. Succession planning takes the aim of a more balanced gender distribution in the company’s positions into account. Metsä Board’s recruitment partners are committed to the DEI goals.

The main method of recruitment is anonymous recruitment. It supports employee diversity by encouraging people from different backgrounds to apply for a job at Metsä Board. Anonymous recruitment aims to encourage personnel to reflect on their preconceptions and their potential impact on recruitment. This recruitment method gives applicants an equal opportunity of success in applying for a job.

2030 indicators:

35% Women in leadership roles
100 Employee experience on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) implementation, Metsä for all -index (scale 0-100)
100% Anonymous recruitment for vacancies open to all

To promote an ethical corporate culture, the ethics index is used to measure the personnel's experience of the implementation of ethical corporate culture every year. On the basis of the ethics index, development measures are defined annually to correct the identified shortcomings, and the implementation of the measures is regularly monitored.

The company has up-to-date Code of Conduct and policies, the key content of which is regularly trained for personnel. The goal of these online trainings aimed at the entire staff is a 100% completion rate.

Risks related to corruption, competition law, data protection, realization of human rights and other key areas of compliance are regularly assessed.

The company's website has an ethics channel that enables anonymous reports, where employees or representatives of stakeholders can report any activity they observe that violates the law or the company's Code of Conduct. The company's Compliance Committee or other designated responsible persons are responsible for investigating reports.

2030 indicators:

100 Employee experience on ethical corporate culture implementation, ethics index (scale 0-100)

Promoting sustainable and ethical operations in the supply chain includes:

Forest certification can be used to demonstrate that a forest has been managed sustainably. Forest certification focuses on two key elements: sustainable forest management and the wood supply chain. At Metsä Board, the wood fibre’s sustainability and traceability are ensured by practices which meet the requirements of the PEFC Chain of Custody and FSC® Chain of Custody (PEFC/02−31−92 and FSC-C001580). 

The origin of other raw materials is assessed through surveys. Our goal is that the countries that produce the raw materials will be an explicit part of risk analysis, and that we can better target our background checks and audits on deliveries from high-risk countries.

All our suppliers are required to adhere to the principles of Metsä Group’s Supplier Code of Conduct. They include our minimum standards for respecting the environment and human rights, as well as responsible business practices.

Supplier background checks, risk analyses, assessments and audits are used to assess sustainability and responsibility of our suppliers.  We focus more detailed assessments on suppliers important to business continuity, or whose branch of industry or operating area involves potential risks related to sustainability. One of the key measures for assessing supplier responsibility in recent years has been the introduction of the EcoVadis tool.

Metsä Group has set a joint sustainability target with all partner suppliers. These targets include aspects such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the value chain. The joint targets are set and monitored at the Metsä Group level, because the procurement of Metsä Board’s raw materials other than wood and services is centrally handled by Metsä Group’s Procurement and Logistics unit

2030 indicators:

100% Share of certified wood fibre
100% Traceability of raw materials, share of total purchases
100% Suppliers' commitment to the Supplier Code of Conduct, share of total purchases
100% Supplier assesments and audits of core suppliers
100% Joint sustainability target with partner suppliers (at the Metsä Group level)