UPM annual report 2014

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UPM Annual Report 2014 UPM Annual Report 2014 53 54
CONTENTS
RESPONSIBILITY 45–59
Wood is a renewable material and the primary
raw material for UPM’s businesses. UPM is
both a major forest owner and a purchaser of
wood.
Global forest loss, which is caused by the
growing need for food production and wood,
particularly in the tropics, is of particular
concern to the whole forest sector. UPM
recognises this global challenge and responds
to it in its own operations and by actively
participating in the WBCSD Forest Solutions
Group.
UPM does not use wood from tropical
rainforests as raw material, or accept wood
from plantations that have been established
by destroying rainforests. UPM does not
operate in areas where the rights of indig-
enous peoples are threatened or endangered.
UPM continued its participation in the WWF
New Generation Plantations platform and is
committed to develop and promote sustain-
able plantation practices.
UPM manages its forests with a view to
enhancing biological diversity, natural ecosys-
tems and the carbon storage, and operates
according to the principles of sustainable
forest management.
At the end of 2014, UPM owned 765,000
hectares of forest in Finland and 75,000
hectares in the USA. In December, UPM sold
all 7,100 hectares of its forest land in the UK
to The Church Commissioners for England.
In Uruguay, UPM owns 235,000 hectares of
plantations. Forests owned by UPM include
approximately 43,000 protected sites with a
total area of 121,000 hectares.
In addition, the company manages 1.6
million hectares of privately owned forests
and 65,000 hectares of plantations.
All of UPM’s forests and eucalyptus
plantations are certified according to the FSC
and/or PEFC certification schemes. In addi-
tion, UPM has an FSC and PEFC Group
Certificate in Finland and a UKWAS Group
Certificate in the UK which private forest
owners can sign up to.
In 2014, UPM was selected as sector
leader for the materials industry in the CDP’s
forests programme. This was the second time
UPM received this acknowledgement.
UPM ensures that
all wood and wood fibre
is sustainably sourced
Responsible use of water
UPM’s global biodiversity
programme
The aim of UPM’s global biodiversity pro-
gramme is to maintain and increase biodiver-
sity in forests and to promote best practices in
sustainable forestry. In connection with the
biodiversity programme, UPM carried out
several projects with stakeholders in 2014.
In one of the long-term projects that has
already been running for ten years, UPM has
participated in monitoring the insect species
found in retention trees in Janakkala, Fin-
land. The project is being carried out in
co-operation with researchers and the Finnish
Environment Institute.
UPM is also a network partner in the
Biodiversity in Good Company initiative in
Germany and the FIBS Business & Biodiver-
sity programme in Finland, both of which
contribute to the UN Convention on Biologi-
cal Diversity. UPM also co-operated with
IUCN in 2014.
The average share of certified fibre
supplied to UPM’s mills increased to 83%
(80%). By 2020, UPM aims to increase
the share of certified fibre to 85%. UPM’s
2020 target was increased in 2012
because of the good progress made.
VIDA SILVESTRE PROMOTES
BIODIVERSITY IN URUGUAY
“Our work aims to preserve nature and the
diversity of ecosystems and species, by
working together with different groups in
society,” declares Oscar Blumetto, President
of Vida Silvestre, discussing the objectives of
the organisation.
Vida Silvestre and UPM’s plantation forestry
company Forestal Oriental have entered into
a three-year co-operation project on the
conservation of the environment. This is the
first time a forestry company and an NGO
have established such a partnership in
Uruguay.
The main purpose of the co-operation is to
contribute to the sustainable development of
natural resources in the long term. UPM and
Vida Silvestre are also looking for partner-
ships with other public or private stakehold-
ers to facilitate more efficient management
of biodiversity.
“We very much appreciate UPM’s recent
initiative to create and protect native species
in conservation areas that are found in the
company’s eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay.
We are participating in this process by
assisting UPM in selecting these areas before
plantations are created,” adds Blumetto.
Read more:
UPM uses third-party verified chains of custody
and forest certifications in its wood sourcing.
Water plays an important role in
UPM’s pulp and paper production and
hydropower generation. UPM’s target
is to minimise the impacts of operations
on local water resources and safeguard
the natural water cycle in forests.
UPM has reduced wastewater volumes
per tonne of paper by 25%, and per
tonne of chemical pulp by 17% over
the last ten years.
Read more on UPM’s wood sourcing (p. 39).
More graphs available on page 139.
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
50
40
30
20
10
0
■ per tonne of chemical pulp
■ per tonne of paper
UPM’s process wastewater volumes
m³/t
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
100
80
60
40
20
0
Certified wood supplied to mills
%
83% OF UPM’S PAPER IS
PRODUCED USING FIBRE THAT
MEETS THE CRITERIA OF FSC OR
PEFC FOREST CERTIFICATION
SCHEME
PROCESS WASTEWATER
HAS DECREASED
17% PER TONNE OF CHEMICAL
PULP OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS
UPM’s main production plants are located in
areas where there is sufficient water available.
UPM uses water responsibly in terms of the
company’s water consumption and effluent
quality. All of UPM’s pulp and paper mills are
required to have both a mechanical and a
biological effluent treatment facility.
The optimisation of operating models
continued at the UPM Pietarsaari pulp mill’s
effluent treatment plant, completed in 2013.
A working group established as part of the
Clean Run campaign participates in the optimi-
sation of all effluent treatment plants by shar-
ing good operating models and preparing for
exceptional situations.
During 2014, UPM participated in develop-
ing the ISO water footprint standard and
joined the WBCSD Water Cluster’s WASH
Pledge programme
as the first forest
products company.
As a participant in
the WASH Pledge
programme, UPM is
committed to ensur-
ing that all its
employees have
access to clean
water, sanitation and
hygiene in the work-
place.
By 2020, UPM
aims to reduce its
wastewater volume
by 15% and its COD
load by 20% in pulp
and paper produc-
tion, as compared
with the 2008 level.
The project has been
so successful to date
that the 2020 target
was tightened in
2012.
SEA TROUT AND WHITEFISH RETURNING
Sea trout and whitefish are good indicators of the efficiency
of modern wastewater treatment and the improving state of
nature. The species are now returning to their spawning
locations in the Rauma river and Pitkäjärvenoja creek, which
runs into the sea through the UPM Rauma paper mill site in
Finland.
“The development is encouraging as the species are classi-
fied as ‘very endangered’ in the Baltic Sea region. Reproduc-
tion may be tiny, but it is important to guard the genetic her-
itage of the species,” explains Juha Hyvärinen, head of
environmental protection in the city of Rauma.
The seaside in front of the Rauma area has been systemati­
cally monitored from the late 1960s. Nowadays, one joint
wastewater treatment plant operated by UPM purifies also all
wastewater from Rauma municipality and Metsä Fibre pulp
mill. The development of the wastewater treatment system
has improved the water quality significantly since then.
Read more: