Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland) and Metsä Group (Espoo, Finland) have agreed to jointly develop a new sustainable product or raw material related to the forest industry by 2027. As major industrial players, the two companies are well-positioned to reduce the environmental impacts of the forest industry value chain.
Sustainability is an integral part of Kemira’s and Metsä Group’s strategies. Kemira’s key objective is to help its customers develop and improve their sustainability. Continuous operational development is another important goal. In 2022, Kemira set a new ambitious climate target and committed to reducing the emissions from its own operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 50% by 2030 in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Kemira is also committed to setting a quantified near-term target for its Scope 3 emissions within the time limit set by the SBTi. Reducing the environmental impacts of the value chain is an important part of the target for Scope 3 emissions.
“Cooperation on sustainability supports both companies’ strategic goals and increases the overall sustainability of the value chain. It’s important to us to help our customers achieve their environmental goals while also developing our sustainable product portfolio,” says Harri Eronen, SVP, Commercial, Pulp & Paper, EMEA, Kemira.
“One of Metsä Group’s strategic sustainable development goals for 2030 is to ensure that our production operations generate no fossil emissions, and that our products will be completely fossil-free by 2030. The fossil-free raw material or product to be developed with Kemira is an excellent addition to our existing development projects to move away from the fossil economy,” says Jari Voutilainen, SVP, Sourcing and Logistics, Metsä Group.
Kemira and Metsä Group will establish a joint product development group. The most interesting development options are related to Kemira’s new process and coating technologies, which are based on renewable raw materials.