BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND VALUE CREATION
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT
GOVERNANCE
sequestration and the prevalence of high biodiversity stumps and retention trees that improve forest biodiversity. For more information on these, see Metsä Board’s Sustainability Report 2022 pages 26–29. Regarding other raw materials, the systematic collection of origin data continues to be developed. In 2022, the origin, at least the country of manufacture, was known for 97% (98) of the total purchases of raw materials and packaging materials, including fully traceable wood. The proportion of fossil free raw materials, including the packaging materials of the company’s own products, was 99.3% (99.2). Climate and energy Metsä Board’s targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and are in line with the Business Ambition for 1.5°C commitment. Metsä Board aims to use only fossil free energy by the end of 2030. In essence, this refers to a situation in which the company’s mills do not use fossil fuels or purchase energy generated with fossil fuels, meaning that the target for fossil-based CO 2 emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2, market-based) is zero. In 2022, 87% (85) of the energy used by Metsä Board was fossil free. The company has reduced its fossil-based CO 2 emissions (Scope 1 and 2) per tonne produced by 33% in 2018–2022. To achieve the fossil free target, the company has drawn up an investment and action plan applicable to all its mills. In 2022, the new recovery boiler and the turbine at the Husum pulp mill started up, increasing bioenergy production and improving the electricity self-sufficiency of the entire integrate. Other key measures during the year included the reduction of peat use at the Simpele mill and the investment decision to replace the turbine and generator at the Kyro mill’s biopower plant in 2022–2024. Despite the end of natural gas supplies from Russia, Metsä Board’s Jout- seno, Kyro and Tako mills have been operating without disruptions. Natural gas has been partially replaced by oil and the Kyro and Joutseno mills are ready to switch to LNG in the first half of 2023. The use of substitute energy sources will not slow down Metsä Board’s target of a phased transition to completely fossil-free energy (Scope 1 and 2) by the end of 2030. The fossil-free production target is supported by energy efficiency improvements, where the company aims to achieve at least a 10% improvement in 2018–2030. In 2022, energy efficiency improved by 2.7% (4.3) compared to 2018. The change compared to corresponding year was due to the adjustment of production to meet demand at the end of 2022. Key measures to improve energy efficiency in 2022 included an investment in a lamella separator for the chemical purification of water used as process water at the Kyro mill, as well as the introduction of a heat exchanger and utilization of waste heat in the debarking plant of the Simpele mill. Both measures reduce raw water intake and the need for water heating, thus reducing water and energy use. For the value chain (Scope 3), Metsä Board’s Science Based Target is that 70% of its non-fibre suppliers and of the logistics operators related to its customer deliveries, measured as a share of the company’s purchasing costs, set themselves targets in accordance with SBTi by 2024. The recom- mendation to set SBTi targets is included in Metsä Group’s Supplier Code of Conduct and is discussed in supplier meetings. By the end of 2022, 15% (16) of the suppliers in Metsä Board’s SBT target group had set a target. In 2023–2024, Metsä Board will update its value chain related emission
reduction targets and also set a land use related emission reduction target, the so-called FLAG target. Value chain emissions (Scope 3) account for 83% of Metsä Board’s fossil greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 3 emissions are calculated for all GHG Protocol’s emission categories identified as significant, including purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel- and energy-related activities (not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2), transportation to Metsä Board’s sites, waste generated in operations, transportation to customers, processing of sold products, end-of-life treatment of sold products, and investments. More detailed description of the greenhouse gas emissions from Metsä Board’s own operations (Scope 1), purchased energy (Scope 2) and the value chain (Scope 3) can be found in Metsä Board’s Sustainability Report 2022 on page 33. Water use, discharges and side streams Metsä Board does not source any water from areas of high water stress (WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas). Metsä Board’s water use in 2022 was 110 million cubic metres (115), of which 60.2 million cubic metres (59.6) was process water. Surface water accounted for almost 100% of water use. Small amounts of groundwater (0.06% of water use) were used, mainly for hygiene and laboratory purposes. Of all the water used by the company, roughly 96% is returned to the waterbodies after use. The target is to reduce the use of process water by 30% per tonne produced in 2018–2030. In 2022, the reduction was 12.2% (12.6) compared to 2018. To reduce its water use, Metsä Board has defined mill-specific measures to increase the efficiency of water recycling and to reduce raw water intake. The Husum integrated mill accounts for roughly 40% of the company’s water use. Therefore, the renewal of the Husum pulp mill will significantly reduce Metsä Board’s water use by 2030. Measures related to the reduc- tion of water use in 2022 are explained in the section Environment - Climate and energy. Metsä Board uses the best available technology in its production and continuously monitors that all its mills operate in compliance with the environmental permits issued to them. In 2022, some exceedings of permit limit values for wastewater discharges were recorded at the production sites. These were reported to the authorities as required and corrective actions were taken at the mills. 99.9% (99.8%) of the production side streams were utilised as materials or energy. The side streams consist of process waste generated in produc- tion and by-products such as ash for fertiliser use. Environmental responsibilities and obligations Metsä Board has environmental liabilities related to former operations at sites that have since been closed, sold or leased, as well as at decommis- sioned landfill sites. Financial provisions for the cost of land rehabilitation work have been made where it has been possible to measure the compa- ny’s liability for land contamination. Metsä Board’s environmental liabilities in 2022 totalled EUR 2.0 million (2.7) and its environmental expenses totalled EUR 11.7 million (13.3). The environmental expenses consist mainly of using and maintaining environmental protection equipment, waste management and environmental insurance expenses, and the depreciation of capitalised environmental expenses.
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