/ Sustainability / Sustainable products / Bioproducts

Wood is turned into several bioproducts

In Metsä Group, every production side stream is valuable. We use every part of a tree for the purpose that it is best suited to and that provides the highest value.

Pulp, paperboard, tissue and greaseproof paper as well as sawn timber, plywood and Kerto® LVL. But also perfumes, ice cream, fertilisers and tires. These are all or their important raw material is a wood-based bioproduct.

Northern wood is an excellent renewable raw material that we want to use as efficiently and wisely as possible. Pulp, paperboard, tissue and greaseproof papers, sawn timber, plywood and Kerto LVL are traditional bioproducts manufactured by Metsä Group from renewable wood. The wood is refined at our mills into many bioproducts – materials, chemicals or renewable energy – which we produce either ourselves or supply to our partners. Because our network of partners is wide and the possibilities of wood are diverse, wood fibres are used in surprising places.

New bioproducts from the manufacturing processes of current bioproducts

Metsä Group's resource-efficient way of working and extensive partner network make it possible for wood-based products to be used not only in traditional bioproducts but also in a number of new bioproducts: textiles, composites, electronics industry, paints, tires and perfumes.

Our partner network plays an important role in process and product development when innovating new value added utilization of wood in the best possible way. Cooperation with suppliers, partners and research institutes is key to creating efficient ecosystems as part of a sustainable bioeconomy.

A tree makes plenty: most of the wood is logs (60%), and is used in wood products, for example, for construction or furniture. Some 25% of wood is pulpwood that is used in the manufacturing of pulp and other bioproducts. 15% of the wood is branches and top that can be used to produce renewable energy.

Tall oil and turpentine have been used in the chemical industry for a long time. For example, tall oil is processed for paints and tires. Turpentine, in turn, is used as a raw material for example in perfumes. When turpentine is distilled, it gives up to two hundred different scents. The pulp is also eaten when it has been processed, as it is a thickener in ice creams and juices, as well as in medicines and toothpaste.


The benefits of traditional bioproducts manufactured by Metsä Group

New bioproducts

Metsä Wood manufactures industrially efficient wood products

  • Strong and light wood products

  • The products store carbon

Metsä Fibre manufactures high quality sawn timber and softwood and birch pulp

  • Strong, clean and safe pulp and premium sawn timber

  • Pulp and bioproducts with excellent environmental performance

Metsä Board manufactures high-quality lightweight paperboard

  • Clean and safe

  • Lightweight paperboard have a lower environmental impact and produce less waste

Metsä Tissue manufactures tissue and greaseproof papers that promote hygiene

  • Tissue papers promote health, hygiene and well-being

  • Greaseproof papers reduces food waste and energy and water usage

Working this way, we can make resource-wise bioeconomy possible. At the same time we use every part of a tree for the purpose that it is best suited to and that provides the highest value. In Metsä Group, every production side stream is valuable.