Sappi Europe is able to claim a 55% reduction in the CO2 footprint of the coated mechanical Galerie family of papers produced at its Kirkniemi mill in Finland.
This comes a year after the mill switched from coal as a fuel to biomass to generate steam and energy. This amounts to a 90% reduction in its Scope 1 emissions once a further saving is realised by the end of the year. By then the carbon footprint of the paper, used for catalogues, direct mail and similar products, will be down 70% thanks also to reductions in Scope 2 emissions.
The mill has three PMs capable of 750,000tpa. As a result of the €16.5 million project, it will cut emissions by 230,000tpa of CO2. The biomass boiler will be fed with bark and wood chips with enough storage to run for two-and-a-half days without further replenishment.
While Sappi is slashing its own Scope 1&2 emissions, the figures will feed through to print customers who reduce their Scope 3 carbon emissions as a consequence, hopefully making the Sappi more attractive to end users who want to reduce their carbon impacts. Scope 2 emissions from bought in energy have been eliminated by a switch to clean electricity.
“Sappi Europe’s decarbonisation journey underwent a massive acceleration from 2020 onwards. We’re proud to be on schedule, despite challenging economic conditions,” says Sappi Europe’s director of sustainability Sarah Price. “For us, this is much broader than emissions. It is about investing now for long term positive change and enabling our customers to do the same.”
This is one of 80 products that are underway across Sappi. Another is the introduction of a second eboiler at the Maastricht mill where electricity generated steam can replace gas generated steam. This should be in operation by November next year with a 14% reduction in Scope 1&2 emissions in 2026 and by 30% by 2030.
The technology will enable the mill to feed energy to the grid using its gas boiler when demand for electricity is particularly high, while drawing electricity from the grid when this is advantageous.
