Material choice has a direct impact on the environmental performance of a customer’s own product. When assessing the environmental impacts of a construction product, piece of furniture, window, door or other wood-based product, the production and supply chain of the sawn timber used in the final product play an important role.
Metsä Fibre published its first official Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for sawn timber in August 2025. Verified by an independent third party, the declaration is based on a life cycle assessment and presents the environmental impacts of sawn timber throughout its life cycle in a standardised and comparable format.
Customers can use the information provided in Metsä Fibre’s Environmental Product Declaration when calculating the environmental impacts of their own products, reporting to customers, assessing construction projects and responding to continuously evolving environmental requirements.
Metsä Fibre’s low production emissions are reflected in its sawn timber’s environmental data
The carbon dioxide emissions generated by Metsä Fibre’s sawn timber production are close to zero. This is reflected in the environmental data for the company’s sawn timber products and, consequently, in calculations where customers use Metsä Fibre’s sawn timber as a material in their own products.
In practice, the Environmental Product Declaration helps customers understand the role that the material plays in the overall environmental impacts of the end product. As the data is verified and presented in a consistent format, it can be readily incorporated into customers’ own life cycle assessments and Environmental Product Declarations.
According to Metsä Fibre's VP of Sawn Timber Sales, Kustaa Laine, information on the environmental impacts of sawn timber is becoming increasingly important in customers’ operations.
“Our customers need reliable information about the environmental impacts of the materials they use. The Environmental Product Declaration for our sawn timber provides a clear and verified basis for this. Because the production emissions of our sawn timber are low, it can also help our customers improve the environmental performance of their own products,” says Laine.
The importance of an EPD is particularly evident when customers are comparing material options or need accurate product-specific information for their own customers. In these situations, general sustainability claims are no longer sufficient. Environmental impacts must be demonstrated using data based on established calculation methods and verified by an independent third party.
Comparable environmental data supports customer decision-making
Environmental Product Declarations are prepared in accordance with international standards. Their consistent structure helps customers review the environmental impacts of products and use the data in their own calculations.
The EPD for Metsä Fibre’s sawn timber is based on data covering raw material sourcing, the origin of the wood, transport, energy consumption and production emissions, among other factors. The life cycle assessment also includes information on the product’s use phase, carbon storage, and end of life.
This gives a much broader view of the product’s environmental impacts than a single emissions figure. Customers get a comprehensive set of data they can use in product-specific environmental impact calculations, in reporting and in meeting various environmental requirements.
In the construction sector, EPD data is needed to assess the environmental impacts of construction products and building projects, among other things. An EPD may also be needed for environmental certification. Customers using Metsä Fibre’s sawn timber can incorporate verified material data into the environmental impact calculations for their own products or projects.
Low production emissions bring practical benefits for customers
The Environmental Product Declaration for sawn timber also shows the differences between suppliers. Two materials that are technically suited to the same purpose can have different environmental impacts from their production and supply chains.
This means that the choice of sawn timber affects more than the technical properties, availability, and security of supply of the end product. It also affects the environmental data that customers can include in their own calculations and reporting.
Metsä Fibre's Sustainability Manager Marko Ruottinen sees verified product data as an essential part of systematically monitoring environmental impacts.
“Because an EPD is based on a life cycle assessment, we can give customers a broader view of a product’s environmental impacts instead of a single claim. When the calculations are carried out in accordance with standards and the results are verified by an independent third party, customers can rely on the data in their own work,” says Ruottinen.
Metsä Fibre’s goal is to use no fossil fuels in its production and purchase no fossil-based energy by the end of 2030. The company also aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from wood sourcing and transport by 30 per cent.
“Environmental Product Declarations and life cycle assessments help us monitor our progress and identify where impacts arise. As we reduce emissions from our own operations and supply chain, this is also reflected in the environmental data for the sawn timber we deliver to our customers,” Ruottinen continues.
Environmental data travels with the sawn timber
The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for sawn timber brings together the physical properties of the product and information on its environmental impacts. Customers receive not only sawn timber suited to their intended use, but also documented information on the material, its production and its life cycle.
Strength, dimensional stability, stiffness, moisture content and appearance still determine which applications sawn timber is suitable for. Alongside these, a new selection criterion has emerged: what environmental impact does the material bring to the customer’s product? This question is also being asked with increasing frequency by our customers’ customers.
The EPD for Metsä Fibre’s sawn timber helps answer this question with measurable, verified and comparable data. At the same time, the low production emissions of our sawn timber turn from Metsä Fibre’s own environmental performance into practical benefits for customers and the entire value chain.