Iggesund Paperboard Mill's Environmental Profile Cleaner than Ever

Print this article | Send to Colleague

"In the paper industry, the environmentally harmful emissions, above all to water, are usually proportional to production, that is, the more you make, the more you emit," explains Anna Mårtensson, environmental manager at Iggesund Mill. "But 2012 was a very positive exception for us. Even though our production was the most it's ever been, our emissions were the lowest ever—or at least, as far back as we have reliable measurement data."

Over the years, Iggesund has taken a variety of steps to reduce its emissions, the company notes. Fairly early on, the mill began separating out the leftover fibers that had passed through the pulping process with the aid of mechanical purification in sedimentation basins. In the 1970s, another step was taken with the construction of an aerated lagoon, where microorganisms clean the wastewater to a higher standard. In 2009, the mill added a third stage, chemical purification, in which the wastewater is treated in the same way that drinking water is treated.

"Now we can clearly see the effects of the third stage," Mårtensson says. "The oxygen-consuming substances have been greatly reduced and nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, which are so harmful to the marine ecosystem in the Baltic Sea, have been almost halved."

Paper industry operations are so large in scale that it often takes time to change course, Iggesund continues, adding that the Iggesund Mill is working in a strategic, targeted way to reduce its impact on the local environment. "Not one investment decision is made without first considering the environmental aspects," Mårtensson notes. "That is the question we constantly ask every time we discuss how to develop our production. Things don't always move as fast as our critics would like, but systematic work on these issues is what gives results over time."

The Iggesund Mill has been making paper pulp on the same site for almost 100 years and has been refining the pulp into paperboard for 50 years. Half a century ago, the seabed outside of the mill was dead and environmentally harmful emissions were considerable. Today, it is not possible to distinguish between fish that live close to the mill and fish from unaffected reference areas. Sensitive species like seals and eagles that have been absent for many years from the mill's vicinity are now back and increasing in numbers, the company explains.

Over the past two years, Iggesund Paperboard has invested more than EUR 340 million in switching to production based on renewable energy. At Iggesund Mill alone, the company has invested more than EUR 100,000 a day for the past 10 years, always with a focus on the environmental consequences of its investments.