METSÄ BOARD Annual review 2023
■ Actions The company’s key strategic actions related to resource use and the circular economy are the following: • Committing to regenerative forestry principles and also promoting regenerative land use in mill areas. Further information is available under E1 – Climate change and E4 Biodiversity and ecosystems . • Reducing water use by developing production processes and deploying new technologies. Further information is available under E3 – Water resources . • Transitioning to fully fossil free energy in production. Further informa- tion is available under E1 – Climate change . • Improving energy efficiency by using electricity, heat and fuel more efficiently. Further information is available under E1 – Climate change . • Transitioning to fully fossil free raw materials and packaging materials. Further information is available under E1 – Climate change . • Reducing the environmental impacts of packaging through product development such as lightweighting of paperboards and by offering customers services in areas like sustainability and packaging design. Further information is available in the Report of Board of Directors, under R&D and innovation . • Promoting recycling by participating in international initiatives. Further information is available under G1 – Political influence and lobbying activities . • Finding new purposes for waste generated in production jointly with partners. Resources inflows, including resource use Raw materials are used resource efficiently to avoid waste in production. The main raw material, renewable wood, is used fully. The most valuable part of the tree, log wood, is used for wood products produced by Metsä Group’s other business areas, while thinner tree parts and the thin trees obtained from thinning are used as the main raw material for pulp and paperboard mills. The branches and logging residue are used in the production of renewable energy. Metsä Board’s mills are continuously improving their recovery processes to avoid the generation of waste in pulp and paperboard production. For example, increasing process water recycling makes energy use more efficient and reduces the loss of fibre material. The pre-engineering of the Kaskinen folding boxboard mill, launched in 2022, is based on the idea of fossil free production, reduced paperboard weight and notably reduced wood, energy and water use per tonne of folding boxboard produced compared with current production units. Outflows related to products and services In the circular economy for fibre-based packaging material, Metsä Board’s task is to provide markets with premium fresh fibre paperboards as resource efficiently as possible, help replace fossil-based materials and reduce the carbon footprint of packaging. Ensuring and developing the recyclability and compostability of paperboards is of key importance. Metsä Board’s paperboards, mainly produced from renewable raw materials, can be recycled, depending on local recycling systems. Except for the PE-coated grades, all the company’s paperboards are certified as industrially compostable according to the DIN EN 13432 and ASTM D6400 standards and as home compostable in accordance with the NF T 51–800 standard.
Inflows of material and energy
Outflows of material and energy
The company’s R&D focuses on lightweighting of paperboard and devel- oping bio-based barrier coating for end-uses in food packaging. Further information is available in the Report of the Board of Directors, under R&D and innovation . Through its 360 Services, Metsä Board offers customers services in fields like R&D, sustainability and packaging design to help customers improve the recyclability and material efficiency of their packages through packaging life-cycle calculations, data-based comparisons of the environmental impacts of different materials, and concrete packaging solutions. The life-cycle assessments of all the company’s products and the comparisons between different materials are carried out in accordance with the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards. The calculation model of the life-cycle assessments has been verified by an external partner, and two of the company’s products have an environmental product declaration (EPD), stating the comparable results of the paperboard product’s life-cycle assessment. Waste and side streams Most of the production side streams are utilised. Wood-based waste and by-products, sludge, ashes and lime are used in soil improvement and landscaping, fertilisers, chemicals industry applications, and in energy generation. A relatively small share of the materials is delivered to landfills (table on page 49 ). The main process waste components are green liquor dregs generated in the pulp production process and ash unsuitable for fertilisation, which is generated in energy generation. No established end use has yet been identified for green liquor dregs. Metsä Group is actively seeking new applications for green liquor dregs by conducting its own research and pilot projects and participating in universities’ jointly funded research projects. In 2023, batches of green liquor dregs were supplied for testing in new applications, and they were also used in earthworks. Some mills have their own waste management area or landfill, where operations are subject to an environmental permit. The environmental impacts of the mills’ own waste management areas are minimised in accordance with the environmental permits. Part of the waste is delivered to external waste management companies, whose operations are subject to environmental permits, for processing or disposal. The sustainability of waste management operators is ensured in supply agreements. A strategic R&D programme for converting side streams for use in the circular economy is underway at Metsä Group. Metsä Group is researching and developing, both independently and with partners, various new purposes for sludge, ashes, lignin, sawdust, bark and many other forest industry side streams. It is also exploring opportunities for carbon recovery and upgrading.
Wood-based raw materials, 1,000 t
2023 3,505
2022 4,450
Products, 1,000 t
2023
2022
Business operations and value creation 2 This is Metsä Board 4 CEO’s review 6
Wood
Pulp
555 441
683 727
Purchased pulp Recycled fibre
373
558
BCTMP
0
0
Paperboard
1,319
1,890
Other bioproducts (tall oil and turpentine)
17
20
Other raw materials, 1,000 t
2023
2022
Strategy and financial targets
By-products, 1,000 t
2023
2022
Process chemicals
28
37
Coatings, binders and pigments
254
345
Fertilising and soil improvement (lime, ash, sandy bark)
8
Value creation
12
12
Packaging material
21
30
Industrial use (lime dust, ash, de-inking sludge) Energy use (de-inking sludge, sandy bark)
13
25
Financial development 10 Key figures 12
0
0
Share of renewable and recyclable raw materials and packaging materials, %
Total
25
36
2023
2022
Renewable materials Recycled materials
93 0.1
93
Report of the Board of Directors
0.2
20 72
• Sustainability statement • Sustainability statement assurance report
Metsä Board uses recycled paperboard for the cores of paperboard reels.
74
Consolidated financial statements
Waste use and disposal, 1,000 t
On-site
Off-site
Total 2023
Total 2022
PROCESS WASTE (NON-HAZARDOUS) Material utilisation
78 Notes to the consolidated financial statements 126 Parent company financial statements 129 Notes to the parent company financial statements 142 The Board’s proposal to the Annual General Meeting for the distribution of funds 143 Auditor’s Report 147 Shares and shareholders 151 Ten years in figures 152 Taxes 153 Production capacities 155 Calculation of key ratios and comparable performance measures Corporate governance 157 Corporate governance statement 165 • Board of Directors of Metsä Board 168 • Corporate Management Team of Metsä Board
10 59
49 0.6 1.2 50
59 59
55 74 0.1
Energy use
Landfill
0
1.2 119
Total process waste
69
129
OTHER NON-HAZARDOUS WASTE Material utilisation
0.1
3.6 0.3 0.1 4.0
3.8 0.3 0.1 4.1
4.6 0.2
Energy use
0 0
Landfill
0.03
Total other non-hazardous waste
0.1
4.8
HAZARDOUS WASTE Material utilisation
- - - - - -
0.5
0.5
0.1
Energy use
0.01
0.01
0.01
Incineration without energy recovery
0.8
0.8
0.7
Landfill
0.01
0.01
0.01 0.04
Other disposal
0.1 1.4
0.1 1.4
Total hazardous waste
0.9
Total waste
69
56
125
133
to landfills from all the production units. The 2030 sustainability target only applies to process waste. For example, it does not apply to waste generated in production units’ cafeterias, the volume of which is non-material compared with process waste. The volume of waste treated in the mills’ own waste treatment areas is collected from weighting reports. Information about the volume of waste treated by external service providers and the treatment method is obtained from service providers.
Reporting principles for metrics The waste volumes include waste transferred directly from the mill process and interim storage to final disposal, including material and energy recovery, landfill disposal, and hazardous waste treatment. Waste transferred from the mill process to interim storage is not included in the disclosed waste volumes. The disclosed waste volumes include moisture. The volume of process waste delivered to landfills includes the volume of waste from production processes (in tonnes) delivered
170 Remuneration report 174 Investor relations and investor information
48
49
Report of the Board of Directors | METSÄ BOARD ANNUAL REVIEW 2023
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