Espoo, Finland, 2012-02-27 14:13 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WWF has today published the results of its second WWF Environmental Paper Company Index, a rating of paper producers on their global ecological footprint. The participating tissue paper producers have allowed WWF to scrutinize their global paper production on key environmental criteria, such as fibre sourcing from sustainably managed forests, clean production and public reporting.
The three best overall scores in the tissue category, all within a margin of less than one per cent from each other, went to SCA Tissue, Metsä Tissue and Sofidel in that particular order.
WWF ranked Metsä Group’s tissue and cooking paper business area Metsä Tissue best in the category of public Corporate Responsibility reporting and Environmental Management Systems. Metsä Tissue achieved an impressive result of 86% of the maximum score in this category. The second best tissue producer scored 78%.
“This excellent ranking is rewarding and highly motivating for the entire Metsä Tissue community, as a lot of attention and work has been put into improving our transparency and environmental performance,” says Mika Joukio, CEO of Metsä Tissue.
As an example of Metsä Tissue’s strategic and operative devotion to sustainable development, Joukio mentions extensive sustainability training, which was completed by around 100 employees last year. “Another noteworthy example is the company’s long-term target of mitigating climate change through systematic energy efficiency enhancement. By the end of the year our target is to achieve a 20% improvement on our 2007 performance level,” Joukio adds.
“WWF applauds the transparency of the participating producers. By allowing evaluation of their environmental performance, Metsä Tissue is showing that they take environmental and social responsibility issues seriously,” said Emmanuelle Neyroumande, Manager of WWF International’s global pulp and paper work.
For further information:
Mika Joukio, CEO, Metsä Tissue, tel. +358 (0)1046 54959, Email: mika.joukio@metsagroup.com
Marja-Leena Dahlskog, Communications Manager, Metsä Tissue, tel. +358 (0)1046 55149, Email: marja-leena.dahlskog@metsagroup.com
Metsä Group is a responsible forest industry group. Our products are part of people’s everyday life, promoting sustainable well-being. Metsä Group produces high-quality products mainly from renewable Nordic wood. The Group’s business areas are tissue and cooking papers, board and paper, pulp, wood products as well as wood supply. Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.3 billion in 2011, and it employs approximately 12,500 people. The Group operates in some 30 countries. www.metsagroup.com
With its high-quality tissue and cooking papers, Metsä Tissue makes life more comfortable for consumers, customers and end-users every day. Metsä Tissue is a leading tissue paper products supplier to households and industrial consumers in Europe. We are also the world’s leading supplier of baking and cooking papers. Our main brands are Lambi, Serla, Mola, Tento, Katrin and SAGA. With production units in six countries, we employ a total of about 3,300 people. Our turnover in 2011 was EUR 970 million. Metsä Tissue is part of Metsä Group. www.metsatissue.com.