All our paperboards fulfil the crucial sustainability criteria. Our paperboards are manufactured resource-efficiently using renewable fresh fibre that originates from sustainably managed forests and offers an alternative to fossil-based raw materials. After the first use, all our products are recyclable or can be incinerated for energy recovery or composted, depending on the local infrastructure.

We have first-class competence in packaging analysis and design, in technical expertise and in research and product development. In cooperation with our customers, we develop innovative, ecological and user-friendly packaging solutions that meet the needs of consumers of the future.

Great examples of Metsä Board's ecological innovation and design include:

• Lidloc, a cup structure that folds and locks into an integrated lid. The design completely removes the need for a separate plastic lid and will re-invent how paperboard cups are produced, consumed and recycled.
• Eco-barrier, an innovative paperboard with a special barrier treatment that is developed especially for food service use. On top of the sustainability benefits, this product also offers efficiencies in printing and converting.
• SkinCare 2.0 gift box, an award-winning cosmetic case in which fibre-based materials are used to replace plastic.

As a responsible paperboard producer, we want to ensure that our paperboards are not only ecological but also safe to use. We operate according to the same high hygiene standards as the food industry so that our paperboards are safe even in direct contact with food, pharmaceuticals and children’s products. Our operations are audited regularly both internally and externally, and our products are tested to be safe by external laboratories. All our products are manufactured without fluorochemicals, and we do not accept any genetically modified raw materials or nanotechnology-based substances in our products.

Traceability and controlled materials ensure that our products are of high-quality and safe to use.

Our products can be recycled

Metsä Board’s paperboard products are designed to be recycled. In Europe, paperboard packaging has the highest rate of recycling when compared to other packaging material categories such as glass, metal and plastics (www.cepi.org). Although ultimately the recycling possibilities are still dependent upon the local collection and recycling options available in each market.

Using recyclable materials such as fresh fibre is an important way to save natural resources. Recycling should ideally be carried out as close to the point of collection as possible, rather than shipping recovered materials off to faraway markets for reuse.

Paper and paperboard have many advantages when it comes to recycling:

• Paperboard is already now widely recycled – in Europe over 80% of paper and paperboard packaging is recycled. In the USA, the corresponding figure is 75%.
• Consumers can easily identify recyclable paper and board. Households are used to and willing to sort and separately bin paper and paperboard without any refund or cash incentive.
• Municipal collections for waste paper are well established.

All Metsä Board’s paperboards are recyclable or can be incinerated for energy recovery or composted at the end of their life-cycle.

Responsible production, consumption and the overall environmental awareness are all gaining importance. Therefore, maximising material efficiency and minimising packaging material consumption and waste are now more relevant than ever. Metsä Board is the forerunner in the development of lightweight paperboard, and this will continue to be a key focus area for our research and development.

We focus on lightweight paperboards that offer the advantages of heavier grades in terms of stiffness and thickness, whilst using considerably less raw materials for the same application. Because our fresh fibre paperboards can be over 30 per cent lighter than competing grades, they provide the required strength at lower grammages. The result being that the required printing area or package can be produced using lower quantities of raw materials.

Lightweight paperboards reduce CO₂ emissions across the value chain

Lighter packaging products mean reduced environmental impacts at every stage of the product life cycle – using less raw materials, less energy and water as well as enabling lower transport weights and less waste. Thanks to their quality-consistency, our products also perform smoothly and reliably on printing and converting machines and packaging lines, therefore reducing production waste too.