The core principle of Metsä Fibre's strategy is the full utilisation of wood raw material. This method makes our operations both sustainable and profitable, both now, and for decades to come.
We control the sourcing of the wood raw material in a precise manner. Sturdy trunks that have grown to their full dimensions are delivered to the sawmills, whereas younger wood generated by thinning is used as a raw material for pulp.
Some 60 per cent of the wood raw material we purchase ends up as sawn timber. 75 percent is used for the production of pulp and other bioproducts, and the rest of the wood is utilised as bioenergy.
In sawing, the maximum amount of sawn timber is produced from each log. The sawing is carefully directed, and each log is sawn individually. Roughly half of a log's mass finally ends up as finished sawn timber.
The sawing process naturally generates chips and sawdust. Rather than being waste, however, the chips and sawdust serve as raw material for the next process, as does the tree bark left over in the sawing process.
Coarse chips are used as raw material for pulp. Sawdust is used to make pellets or, alternatively, utilised as bioenergy at the sawmill. Bark also ends up in energy use.
In other words, you could say that not a splinter of the wood goes to waste. Thanks to the extensive use of bioenergy, our sawmills are nearly fossil-free.