Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, closed down the old pulp mill in Kemi with the start-up of the new Kemi bioproduct mill. The securitisation and preparation for dismantling of the old mill started immediately after the shutdown. The actual demolition will start in early 2024 and the project will run until 2025.
"In the first phase, the old mill will be made safe so that the dismantling process is not dangerous and the work goes as smoothly as possible," says Erkka Tahvanainen, VP Production Development , Metsä Fibre, who is responsible for the dismantling project. "The demolition project will employ a few dozen people and will involve both our own people and external operators." The machinery and equipment of the demolished factory will be recycled for reuse as different metals.
The Kemi bioproduct mill produces 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp annually. It uses zero fossil fuels and will be completely waste-free by 2030. Featuring cutting-edge technology, the mill operates a fully-fledged circular economy, as all the wood raw material and production side streams are efficiently used for various bioproducts and bioenergy. For example, the mill produces tall oil and turpentine, as well as two terawatt hours of renewable electricity per year, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of 100,000 electrically heated single-family homes. This accounts for approximately 2.5 per cent of Finland’s total electricity production. Thanks to its efficient chemical cycles and other environmentally efficient solutions, the new mill’s emissions are lower than the limits specified in the currently valid environmental permit for the closed Kemi pulp mill, despite the considerable increase in production capacity.