What do the Paris Olympics, ice cream and pulp have in common?

Wood in toothpaste or makeup? Oh yes. In paints, car tyres and clothes? In laundry detergents, medicines and sausage skins? Yes – the list is endless.

The processing of wood and, more specifically, pulp and its side streams, creates a wide range of products and chemicals that we use in our everyday lives. Pulp is essentially the tissue of wood from which lignin, or the substance that ties the wood fibres together, has been removed. New uses are being discovered at such a rate that there has even been talk of a renaissance of pulp.

Some of the new types of further processed products are already commercially significant. For example, raw methanol released in connection with pulp production can now be processed into refined methanol. This biofuel is currently moving ocean-going ships.

Another success story is related to the acronym CMC. It refers to a cellulose derivative that, when used in food, for example, binds the ingredients together to produce a smooth, fluid and shining product. CMC, whose code is E466, can be found in toothpaste, yoghurt, ice cream or ketchup, for example. Or laundry detergent, eye drops or size – there are hundreds of applications.

Wood can end up in cosmetics and paints in the form of a Cell Ox cellulose derivative. This softwood pulp-based, biodegradable product is used as a binding agent in sunscreens, for example.

In addition to surprising uses, wood continues to be used in everyday workhorses everyone knows: paperboard, toilet paper, kitchen towels, hand towels and wooden products.

Recyclable and inventive

When you buy oatmeal, chocolates, perfume or golf balls, you will also get a functional, beautiful and recyclable package if you are lucky. Metsä Board is constantly developing new types of packaging solutions with its customers.

These often replace fossil materials. For example, a recyclable replacement for bubble plastic with a small carbon footprint is made of paperboard, which means that deliveries of online purchases no longer need to be wrapped in plastic.

“Wood fibre-based products often have a more pleasant feel than plastic alternatives and are therefore nice to use. In addition, a well-designed paperboard package delights with its beauty and directs the user to make the right choices – that is, to recycle,” says Ilkka Harju, Metsä Board’s Packaging Services Director.

A recent example of a new kind of packaging solution is the liquorice cup developed with Kouvolan Lakritsi, where liquorice is packed in a recyclable and reclosable paperboard cup instead of a plastic bag. The cup fits in the cup holder of a car, for example.

Soft and local

Have you ever wondered how much toilet paper and kitchen paper you use? Finns, for example, use about 17 kilogrammes of these products per year, and this consumption of tissue papers is slightly above the European average.

The wishes of users regarding tissue papers have remained the same for a long time: we want toilet paper to be soft and strong, and kitchen paper should also be very absorbent.

“At the same time, it’s becoming increasingly important for consumers that tissue papers are produced in a way that respects nature,” says Joonas Kukkonen, Metsä Tissue's Director of Supply Chain.

The main raw material for tissue papers used by Metsä Tissue, pure wood fibre, comes from sustainably managed and certified and certification-compliant forests. Up to 1,000 rolls of toilet paper can be obtained from one medium-sized tree cut down during thinning.

In addition, the transport of lightweight, airy and therefore space-consuming tissue products is minimised by manufacturing them as close to the market as possible. More than 95% of deliveries are made within a radius of less than 500 km from the mills.

Hard and durable

There are numerous reasons for the increasing demand for wood-derived products, and one is versatility. What other raw material can make both the softest toilet paper and the strong and load-bearing prefabricated elements for buildings such as homes, schools and sports halls?

Think of a wooden partition wall beam – they can be found in almost every Finnish home. Partition wall beams are made of laminated veneer lumber, which in turn is made of turned spruce veneers. The same method is used not only to make long beams but also large wooden panels.

The strength and rigidity of laminated veneer lumber, as well as its special structural adhesive technology, allow larger spans and thinner structures, which are important from an environmental perspective: smaller amounts of valuable wood are needed than before.

“It’s also essential that we have good control of the whole supply chain of the wood: we can say where it comes from, and how the biodiversity of the forest has been taken care of. This is an issue in which our customers are also increasingly interested,” says Sales Director Laura Mattila from Metsä Wood.

Against this background, it is no wonder that northern wood also gained world fame at the Paris Olympics. Ambitious environmental goals were set for the construction of the Olympic village, and the best possible solutions were sought for the floor and roof elements of three apartment buildings. Metsä Wood's laminated veneer lumber from Punkaharju was chosen for them.

From the environmental perspective, it also matters that wood continues to store carbon even after a tree is felled. Wood products store carbon for as long as they exist.