Renewable energy

In addition to helping reduce CO₂ when they are living, trees provide their own renewable energy for the paperboard production process after they have been harvested, helping minimise the industry’s net emissions of CO₂.

The bark, sawdust and other by-products, such as black liquor resulting from the logging and pulp-making process, which would have otherwise gone to waste, provide renewable energy for the paper mill and district heating. This renewable energy accounts for over 80% of the total energy production at the four European paper mills producing paperboard for beverage cartons.

Some of the mills even sell surplus green energy from this process, helping to further minimise fossil fuel consumption. For example, the Korsnäs paper mill in Gävle, Sweden, supplies the local community with 300GWh of green energy each year – enough to power 15,000 homes.