Iggesund moves closer to environmental target

This reduction has been driven by the investment in a new recovery boiler at the site, which was completed in 2012.

Emissions of sulphur have also been cut by 82 percent, nitrogen oxides by 19 percent and particulates by 90 per cent – all compared with 2011, which was the last year the old recovery boiler was operating.

Iggesund added that a ‘conscious decision on operating strategy’ and investments in process stages that previously used fossil fuel oil have also contributed to the reductions in air-borne emissions.

In 2013 Iggesund commissioned a biomass CHP plant at the company’s Workington Mill in the UK. By switching its energy source from fossil fuel to biomass in a single step, the mill eliminated almost all the fossil carbon emissions from its production process.

At Iggesund Mill in Sweden, bioenergy supplied 99.1 per cent of the energy used in the production process during 2014.

Iggesund Mill manager Olov Winblad von Walter said: ‘It always takes time to fine tune a new piece of equipment and we’ve also made some smaller investments to optimise our return from the recovery boiler.

‘Now we’re getting close to achieving the potential we expected.’

Iggesund parent Holmen Group has invested in the environmental side of other parts of its business also, and between 2013 and 2014 carbon dioxide emissions per tonne of manufactured paperboard and paper products within the group were cut from 123kg to 67kg - around 50 percent. Emissions from all paperboard production within the Holmen Group are within a few tenths of one percent of being fully fossil-free.

Holmen is a forest industry group that manufactures printing paper, paperboard and sawn timber, and runs forestry and energy production operations. As well as Iggesund Paperboard, the group’s businesses include Holmen Paper, Holmen Timber, Holmen Skog and Holmen Energi.

The group has five production plants in Sweden and one each in the UK and Spain. The forests and hydro power facilities are located in Sweden. Around 90 percent of sales take place in Europe via its own sales companies.

Holmen Group is about 60 percent self-sufficient in wood, and self-sufficiency in electricity is around 30 percent. A significant proportion of the thermal energy required is covered by bioenergy produced at the company’s own facilities.

In recent years Holmen Group has received a number of awards for its sustainability work. In 2014 Iggesund was given the Bio Strategy of the Year award by industry organisation PPI, while the Holmen Group was included on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s list of the 187 global companies that are seen as leaders in tackling climate change.

Lars Strömberg, director of sustainable and environmental affairs at Holmen Group, said: ‘We’re very satisfied with this year’s outcome and I believe we’ve thereby strengthened our position as a leader in sustainability efforts.

‘Our strategy of investing in fossil-free technology at the mills in Sweden and the UK have been decisive steps in our sustainability work. The fact that we’ve been rewarded with top positions in various rankings and indexes proves that active work with energy and climate issues gives us a credibility that also strengthens our brands.’