Displaying items by tag: Metsä Group

 The operations at Metsä Group’s and Valmet’s 3D fibre product demo plant in Äänekoski has begun. At the end of 2020, Metsä Group’s innovation company Metsä Spring and Valmet announced they would be investing a total of approximately 20 million euros in the demo plant.

The demo plant is part of Metsä Group’s integrated mill site in Äänekoski, and it produces finished 3D fibre packaging products directly from wet pulp without intermediate phases. The moulded fibre-based packaging can replace plastic for example in food packaging. The demo plant currently employs approximately ten people.

“Our fibre-based packaging products are a significant new initiative in the global packaging market. The novelty in our products include their layered structure, which, in turn, allows their production in a raw material and energy efficient manner applying a highly automated production process. The layered structure also allows the products to be easily modified for different purposes. The customers’ reception of the new product has been very positive. We know we’re on the right path,” says Metsä Group’s project lead, VP, Jarkko Tuominen.

3D fibre product

“We are very satisfied with our cooperation with Metsä, and we think the mould casting technology is an excellent prospect as a future packaging solution. This is a good example of Valmet’s capacity for developing new technology, and I’m especially proud of how we’ve been able to make use of our broad process expertise in this project,” says Petri Rasinmäki, VP, Board and Paper Mills Business Unit at Valmet.

The demo plant has started a testing and development phase that will last a few years. The goal of this phase is to prove the competitiveness of the production and of the product in the packaging market. If this goal is achieved, it will be possible to consider building a larger production unit.

The 3D fibre product is renewable, recyclable and biodegradable, and its raw material comes from sustainably managed forests, which are primarily owned by Finnish families. Metsä Group is actively developing new business opportunities and researching new wood-based products that can increase the value of its owner-members’ forests. Moreover, the Äänekoski site is also the home of another demo plant, namely a facility developing a process for the production of the Kuura textile fibre.

Pictures of 3D fibre products and demo plant

Metsä Spring
www.metsaspring.com

Innovation company Metsä Spring invests expertise and financial resources into initiatives with the ambition to reshape the forest-based bioeconomy, aiming to increase the value for Metsä Group’s stakeholders in the long-term.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners. 

Metsä Group has been selected as the most startup-friendly company in Finland in 2021. The award is presented by the entrepreneurial and startup community Tribe Tampere.

"Metsä Group has actively developed its cooperation with the startup field, most concretely by establishing the innovation company Metsä Spring about four years ago. We are very grateful and proud that our determined contribution has led to this recognition,” says Erik Kolehmainen, who is responsible for Corporate Venturing operations at Metsä Group.

Spring start-upSelection criteria for the award include a strong startup attitude and actions in a wide spectrum, including supporting the actors in the startup ecosystem. This year the emphasis was on the companies’ actions that have been carried out to tackle challenges during the pandemic and its unprecedented consequences to the world around us.

"Metsä Spring has shown great dedication in supporting the startup scene in Finland and presented the information in the competition in a clear and detailed format”, the award jury comments.

Metsä Spring invests in promising startups and early-stage companies with a visible path to the Metsä Group business ecosystem. Metsä Spring has come across thousands of new ideas and has thus far assessed more than 500 potential wood-based innovations, five of which it has since invested in. The three startup investments (Woodio, Montinutra and Innomost) have in common that their own production is based on side-streams from Metsä Group's production units. The other two investments are Metsä Spring's own demo projects, related to novel textile fibres and 3D packaging products. You can read more about our active projects on Metsä Spring's website.

Metsä Spring has currently two roles in its operations. According to its original role, Metsä Spring seeks and develops new business opportunities for Metsä Group. This role also involves active cooperation with startup companies. In 2021, Metsä Spring's role was expanded by establishing a Group-level R&D function within Metsä Spring. The aim of this function is to support and promote R&D activities in Metsä Group's existing business areas.

METSÄ GROUP

Metsä Spring
www.metsaspring.com

Innovation company Metsä Spring invests expertise and financial resources into initiatives with the ambition to reshape the forest-based bioeconomy, aiming to increase the value for Metsä Group’s stakeholders in the long-term.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners. 

Metsä Group has made donations of EUR 160,000 to Aalto University, LUT University, Tampere University, Åbo Akademi, University of Jyväskylä and University of Eastern Finland. Depending on the university, the donations will be allocated to the fields of technology, natural sciences or agriculture and forestry.

“High-quality university research and education form the basis for the development of the forest industry as a whole. It’s very important for us to secure future competence,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.

Earlier in December, Metsä Group donated a total of EUR 500,000 to its partner universities University of Helsinki and University of Oulu.

The donations are part of the matched funding scheme, through which the Government supports donations made to universities by private foundations, companies and individuals. The matched funding scheme will run until the end of June 2022.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners. 

The operations of Metsä Group's only production unit in Russia, the Svir sawmill, have been suspended. Wood procurement in Russia for the Svir sawmill and imports to Metsä Group’s Finnish and Swedish mills has also been discontinued.
METSÄ GROUP

For further information, please contact:
Juha Laine, Senior Vice President, Communications, Metsä Group, tel. +358 10 465 4541

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners. 

In the autumn of 2021, Metsä Group launched a ten-year nature management programme to finance regionally effective development projects that are carried out outside commercial Finnish forests and support biodiversity and the state of waters. These projects may relate to bird waters and wetlands, watercourse routes, small waters and coastal environments, pollinator habitats or new water protection methods.

New projects are selected for the programme every six months. The next selections will be made in June 2022. The application period has started and the deadline for applications is at the end of May 2022. Apply for financing here.

“At Metsä Group, we want to be widely involved in improving the state of Finland's nature also outside the commercial forests, and our nature management program offers good opportunities for this. There are many different ways to improve the state of Finnish nature. The first project selections in our programme focused heavily on waters and fish. I hope that in this second round of proposals, we will also be able to assess in a more comprehensive way projects related to, for example, pollinators, birds and new methods and technologies that improve biodiversity or the state of waters. An impressive nature project can be a large or ingenious new insight with wide-ranging expansion opportunities, improving nature management practices or the living conditions of species,” says Tomi Salo, SVP, Corporate Affairs, at Metsä Group.

For funding to be granted, the project must have proven positive impacts on biodiversity or the state of waters, the applicant must have provided Metsä Group with accurate and adequate information about the funded project, an analysis must have been carried out on different sources of funding, the project must be launched in accordance with the application, and the applicant must meet the Metsä Group’s monitoring and reporting requirements.

“Nature is very important to us all. Everyone can make an impact on nature’s biodiversity and the state of waters, and positive examples at their best encourage new actors to move and increase cooperation for the benefit of nature,” continues Tomi Salo.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners. 

Metsä Group launches a programme to be implemented between 2021 and 2030 to provide financial contributions and expertise to support regionally relevant and effective development projects that improve biodiversity and the state of waters in Finland.

These projects, which will be implemented outside commercial forests, may relate, for example, to bird waters and wetlands, watercourse routes, small waters and riparian habitats, pollinator habitats or new water protection methods.

"One of Metsä Group's strategic sustainability targets is to safeguard biodiversity. We are implementing our ecological sustainability programme in commercial forests to safeguard forest biodiversity. With our new nature management programme, we want to play a role in improving the state of nature in Finland also outside the commercial forests. Our investments, which will amount to millions of euros during the programme, have no financial return expectations," says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.

The selection of projects will be made every six months. The first decisions will be made in December 2021, with the application period ending at the end of November 2021. Applications are to be sent by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. In the project evaluation, Metsä Group cooperates with the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Environment, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, University of Eastern Finland and the Central Union of Agricultural Producers MTK.

"We support projects outside commercial forests that have a clearly verifiable impact on improving the state of nature. There are many different means and targets. I hope that our programme will attract wide interest and encourage also completely new ideas, and that we will have a large number of different projects to evaluate," continues Ilkka Hämälä.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 5.5 billion, and we have around 9,200 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by 100,000 forest owners. 

The Kemi bioproduct mill project of Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, is progressing according to plan and the mill’s foundation stone was laid today, 13 September 2021.

The foundation stone was laid to the area of fibre line of the new mill by Ismo Nousiainen, CEO of Metsä Fibre, Jari-Pekka Johansson, Project Director of the Kemi bioproduct mill project, and Mika Vuoti, the on-site contact person. To ensure safety in terms of the coronavirus, the foundation stone was laid without the presence of guests.

Totalling EUR 1.6 billion, the investment in Metsä Group’s Kemi bioproduct mill is the largest in the history of the Finnish forest industry. Through its direct value chain, the new bioproduct mill will employ around 2,500 people in Finland once it is completed. This translates into some 1,500 more than the employment effect of the current Kemi pulp mill. The bioproduct mill project has a high degree of Finnish origin, approximately 70 per cent.

“The impact of this large-scale industrial investment is significant. The Kemi bioproduct mill will increase Finland’s annual exports by around EUR 0.5 billion and its annual positive income effect through the value of the wood raw material and the purchasing of Finnish labour is likewise roughly EUR 0.5 billion,” says Ismo Nousiainen, CEO of Metsä Fibre.

During the construction phase, the bioproduct mill’s employment effect will be approximately 10,000 person-years, more than half of which will be seen in Kemi. The total number of employees working during the construction phase is estimated to be about 15,000.

“We are proceeding purposefully towards the start-up of the new mill in the third quarter of 2023. At the moment, the project is focused on earthworks and this autumn, we will be moving on to the first equipment installations. Some 450 people are currently working on the site,” says Jari-Pekka Johansson, Project Director.

Operating entirely without fossil fuels, the Kemi bioproduct mill will produce annually some 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp, as well as many other bioproducts. It will also produce 2.0 TWh of renewable energy a year, which is equal to approximately 2.5% of Finland’s total annual electricity production.

Progress on the bioproduct mill’s construction site can be followed via real-time webcams at www.metsafibre.com/webcamskemi.

Metsä Fibre  
www.metsafibre.com

Metsä Fibre is a leading producer of bioproducts, biochemicals and bioenergy. We are the world’s largest producer of softwood market pulp and a globally significant manufacturer of sawn timber. There is a growing demand for our high-quality products, as renewable wood provides a responsible alternative to fossil-based materials.

In 2020 our sales totalled approximately EUR 1.8 billion, and we have around 1,300 employees. Metsä Fibre is part of Metsä Group. 

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 5.5 billion, and we have around 9,200 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by 100,000 forest owners.

Metsä Group started recruitment of 50 new experts for apprenticeship training starting in January 2021. New professionals are being trained at Metsä Group's pulp, paperboard and tissue paper mills. The future prospects of these industries are good, and apprenticeship recruitment proactively meets the needs for employees at our mills across Finland.

In Metsä Group's apprenticeship programme, you can complete one of four degrees: a professional degree in the process industry, in electrical and automation, in maintenance or in laboratory. The competence-based qualification is carried out as an employee, the total duration of the training programme is about 1.5 years.

"We pay a competitive salary for the entire training period, and at the end of an approved degree, we offer the opportunity to continue working in a permanent contract," says Pertti Hietaniemi, Metsä Group's Senior Vice President, Human Resources.

“During the training, students acquire good experience from versatile production or maintenance tasks, and the process control becomes familiar. We offer the opportunity to get acquainted with many production facilities and, we also encourage our personnel to job rotation between units and business areas. The investments launched and in planning phase offer a wide range of employment opportunities within Metsä Group,” Hietaniemi continues.

A suitable educational background for apprentices is a basic degree in electric automation, process or mechanical engineering or an applicable polytechnic degree.

“It is worth applying for apprenticeship training with an open mind. It is not a disadvantage if experience has been gained for a longer period of time - new experts are trained here not only for the profession, but also for Metsä's operating methods and work culture. Safety at work is part of professional skills, and all our personnel are committed to proactive safety work and safe working methods,” adds Pertti Hietaniemi.

The due date for the apprenticeship training applications is October 4, 2020.

Apprenticeship training will be provided at the mill locations listed below.

Metsä Fibre: Joutseno, Kemi, Rauma and Äänekoski
Metsä Board: Simpele, Kemi and Äänekoski
Metsä Tissue: Mänttä

There is still time to join the training program for Rauma sawmill 

Metsä Group is currently recruiting also for the training program of the new sawmill to be built Rauma. The persons selected for the training program will complete their competence-based qualification at other Metsä Fibre sawmills, and start their permanent work in Rauma when the new sawmill starts up in 2022. More information about Rauma's coaching programme can be found here (in Finnish).

For further information, please contact:

Pertti Hietaniemi, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Metsä Group, tel. +35810 463 3772
Juha Laine, Senior Vice President, Communications, Metsä Group, tel. +358 10 465 4541

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and greaseproof papers.

In 2019, Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.5 billion, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 100,000 Finnish forest owners.

US-based Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (AIMCAL) presented its 2020 Product of the Year award to Hazen Paper Company for an Arctic Blue Gin package featuring images of flaming Northern Lights. Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, designed the package structure, the original graphics and the embossing. The impressive package uses the lightweight and strong MetsäBoard Pro FBB Bright folding boxboard 350 g/m².

“Producing a highly challenging holographic package requires a lot from the material. Smoothness and stiffness are needed to get the large hologram surface adhered to the paperboard without any flaw. Here the Metsä Board team was able to deliver,” says John Hazen, president of Hazen Paper Company. “The paperboard has a very uniform smooth surface, scores and folds exceptionally well, and has economic and environmental superiority. It is an optimal paperboard for transfer metallising and ideal for a high-end graphic arts application, with both beauty and brawn.”

“We wanted to convey an image of a clean, crisp, winter night, highlighted with northern lights rippling across the Finnish sky. The imagery really stands out and provides exceptional visual elements for maximum brand enhancement,” says Mark Beamesderfer, Packaging Services Director Americas of Metsä Board.

Metsä Group’s innovation company Metsä Spring Ltd. and Japanese Itochu Corporation establish a joint venture, which invests approximately EUR 40 million in building and operating a test plant, with the aim to demonstrate a new technology for converting paper-grade pulp into textile fibres. Business Finland, a Finnish governmental funding agency, participates in the financing of the demo project with an R&D loan. 

The textile fibre demo plant will be located next to Metsä Group’s bioproduct mill in Äänekoski, Finland. Construction of the demo plant, with an annual capacity of about 500 tonnes, begins in October 2018 and it is planned to be started up in late 2019. The general engineering partner is Sweco.

”With the plant, and the demonstration project related to it, we aim to prove the technical feasibility of the new textile fibre production technology. Based on the results of the demonstration project, we can then evaluate the technical and economic realities of building a clearly larger plant in Finland in the future. During the demonstration project, which is expected to last two to three years from the start-up of the plant, we will also gather customer feedback related to the new fibres,” comments CEO of Metsä Spring Niklas von Weymarn.

The new technology to be studied and further developed in the demo project is based on direct dissolution using a novel solvent for the pulp dissolution stage. Metsä Group’s wet paper-grade pulp will be used as the raw material. The new technology is estimated to be more environmentally-friendly than the textile fibre production technologies currently in use. The basis for the new technology has been developed in joint research programmes, starting in 2009. The main collaborators, in terms of development of the technology, include Aalto University, University of Helsinki, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and TITK from Germany. Metsä Group’s own active development work started in 2012.

The textile fibre demo plant is the first investment of Metsä Spring, established in May 2018. Metsä Spring invests together with partners in new endeavours with the target to identify and develop new business opportunities within the sustainable forest-based bioeconomy and circular economy.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and cooking papers.

Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.0 billion in 2017, and it employs approximately 9,100 people. The Group operates in nearly 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 104,000 Finnish forest owners.