A sustainable outlook Metsä Tissue

A SUSTAINABLE OUTLOOK

Finnish tissue and baking & cooking paper products company Metsä Tissue has a ‘unique proposition’ for its customers worldwide thanks to the smart ownership of the company and its complete solutions. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to vice-president for product development for the Metsä Tissue Away From Home division, Markus Reivala, to learn more.

With ten paper mills across Europe and a number of widelyrecognised brands under its belt, Finnish paper products company Metsä Tissue is clearly a commercial success. What customers may not be aware of, however, is how much of a corporate social responsibility success Metsä Tissue is.

Markus Reivala told Industry Europe how the company’s ‘unique proposition based on the ownership of the company’ maintains and supports its focus on responsibility. Mr Reivala said, “We are responsible in all ways – it’s not just something we say to tick a box for shareholders. We don’t have shareholders in the traditional sense as we are part of Metsä Group, which is owned by over 100,000 Finnish private forest owners. This unique ownership base and business structure gives us a competitive advantage and reinforces the long-term stability of our operations. So we do the right thing because it is the right thing to do in order to have a long-term, sustainable business; sustainable for the planet and sustainable for our ongoing success.”

Part of the Metsä Group, one of the world’s largest forest industry groups, Metsä Tissue is dedicated to making paper and pulp products from its network of mills. Metsä Tissue employs 2800 people and the company’s sales total €1 billion.

Part of life

The Metsä Tissue product portfolio is primarily focused on the manufacture of tissue papers and baking and cooking papers, with its brands including Lambi, Serla, Mola, Tento, Katrin and SAGA. Mr Reivala continued, “Our business is part of our customers’ everyday lives. So whether they are a consumer or a professional buyer, we stand together with them to improve health, hygiene and wellbeing

at home, work or leisure. As well as our own well-known brands, we also manufacture a number of supplier label products and various tailor-made customer label products for leading European retailers.”

Manufacturing a total paper production of 640,000 tonnes per year, of which 600,000 tonnes is tissue paper, Metsä Tissue’s ten production plants in five countries are all certified to ISO 9000 for quality and ISO 14000 for environmental management. But these certifications are hardly enough to illustrate just how seriously Metsä Tissue takes its quality and environmental responsibility. Mr Reivala explained, “All our members take care of their own forests and have done so for many, many years. For each tree that is harvested an average of three trees are planted in its place. We have been working like this for long before it was fashionable. In fact, 20 or 30 years ago the paper industry was blamed for causing eco-issues, but now it’s totally the opposite – people know that smart forestry and sustainable industry are important elements in the long-term protection of our planet.

“All in all, efficient supply chain management is one of the cornerstones of our business strategy. Our mills are located close to our raw materials, consumers and partners, thus minimising the need for transportation. We favour railways and waterways and work only with transport companies that are either ISO certified or at an advanced stage in the certification process. We have long-term expertise in sustainability, and Metsä Tissue is an industry forerunner in mitigating climate change and minimising its environmental footprint,” Mr Reivala explained.

Forest for all

This transparency in its ownership and operations is one of the reasons Mr Reivala notes that Metsä Tissue is helping to ‘take care of the forests for future generations’. He said, “This is not a fast business. It doesn’t work to just think of the next quarter. We all have the forests at our heart and we totally respect and value the forest. Our unique business structure is not just socially and environmentally responsible, it also gives us a competitive advantage as we have a solid, long-term stability. So even though we essentially have over 100,000 owners, we’re like a family. A very big family!”

As Metsä Tissue is ‘a very big family’ that operates in a smart, responsible manner, being part of the Metsä Group means it also has the advantage of being able to access an even bigger global network – an extended family of complementary skills. Mr Reivala said, “Within Metsä Group there is such a lot of expertise in areas that truly benefit our customers and the consumer. We have divisions that know everything there is to know about the production of pulp, the relevant chemicals, the raw materials...we have so many state-of-the-art production facilities and process capabilities in the group that whatever we need, we can usually find it. This offers our customers considerable commercial advantages as well as a speed that is unrivalled. All the way through the manufacture of our products we know every step of the production, which enhances our dedication to sustainability. All our products essentially lead back to nature in some way.”

Katrin Inclusive Dispensers – inspired by users

Metsä Tissue has brought into the Away-from-Home market its new Katrin Inclusive Dispenser range. As the name suggests, this product range applies the concept of inclusive design, meaning that the dispensers are easy to use for everyone despite the age or physical abilities of the user.

Katrin Inclusive Dispensers, being universally accessible and easy to use, are designed for everyone. They have a strong focus on functionality, thus helping not just the end user, but also making assembly and maintenance work easy and convenient. n