Metsä Fibre is an active player in Rauma and the entire Satakunta region.
This year, the Rauma pulp mill is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the most modern sawmill in the world is being constructed. It is important to communicate and cooperate with central stakeholders and local players.
Manager Ari-Pekka Vanamo from the Rauma pulp mill values interaction with people living in the surrounding area. For example, in 2019, the pulp mill held an event in Rauma market square to inform people about the planned sawmill project. Metsä Fibre also has organised gatherings in the neighbourhood and invited local people to visit the construction site.
“It is very important that we have close cooperation with society, in particular with people living in the region. We want to tell them about our operation, the principles of sustainability and how we process Nordic wood into sustainable products,” says Vanamo.
Introducing pulp to children and young people
An example of the long-term regional cooperation is schoolchildren’s visits to the mill. Since 1997, every 9th grader in the city has been invited to the mill to see how pulp is produced.
Metsä Fibre also wants to support the region’s active cultural life. For example, Rauma Art School made a 30-metre-long rock painting in the pulp mill’s car park.
Metsä Fibre organised an art exhibition with local daycare centres in which they displayed forest pictures that children had painted on pulp sheets. They also organised birdbox and writing competitions for pupils and upper secondary school students.
The aim was for children and young people to have some kind of relationship with the forest industry at an early stage. Metsä Fibre also wanted to introduce pulp as a raw material.
Plenty of activities for local people
Every year, the mill also welcomes plenty of other visitor groups, such as forest owners and associations.
In the summer, tourists and Rauma residents have had the opportunity to get on a tourist train in the pulp mill area and get to know the mill site and its surroundings. A hundred bird species and several animal species have been spotted next to the mill.
In addition, Metsä Group’s Wood Supply has, over the years, been involved in organising an exhibition and a theme lecture with a bird association, a brush cutter course with the local adult education centre and a week-long geocaching event with a girls’ baseball team.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is currently impossible to organise any events or visits.
The shared wastewater treatment plant benefits everyone
An example of the good cooperation in Rauma is the forest industry’s common wastewater treatment plant. It is used by Metsä Fibre’s pulp mill and the UPM paper mill next to it. In addition to the forest companies’ wastewater, the wastewater from the city of Rauma is also directed to the treatment plant.
“Approximately 15 years ago, we made an agreement with the City to direct its wastewater to the shared treatment plant. The arrangement benefits all parties. At the same time, overall emissions into the waterways have decreased,” says Vanamo.
The wastewater treatment plant, which has been operational for a long time, is owned by Metsä Fibre and operated by UPM.
The City supports commercial and industrial life significantly
Vanamo thanks the City of Rauma for its smooth cooperation with business organisations. For example, the City has supported Metsä Fibre in a sawmill project, which has been under preparation for a long time.
“The City of Rauma’s cooperation with business organisations is exemplary. The City actively monitors businesses’ needs and reacts accordingly. There is also an active chamber of commerce in the region, and it genuinely wants to develop commerce and industry in the region.”