Metsä Group aims to make all of its mills fossil-free by 2030, and using biogas is one way to reach this target.

Gasum has entered into an agreement with Metsä Board, a Metsä Group company manufacturing paperboard, on the delivery of biogas for the company’s paperboard mills. Metsä Board is Europe’s leading manufacturer of folding boxboard. Its folding boxboards are used in high-quality packaging for segments including food, beauty care and healthcare products.

The annual folding boxboard production capacity of Metsä Board’s Finnish mills is around 750,000 tonnes.

Metsä Board recently published the results of a verified life cycle assessment (LCA), according to which Metsä Board paperboard can reduce the carbon footprint of food packaging by more than 60%. The company has also published corresponding assessments on beauty care and healthcare packaging.

Metsä Board’s folding boxboards have a smaller carbon footprint than similar products because of the high share of fossil-free energy used in Metsä Board’s manufacturing process and because they are lighter in weight. Life cycle assessments help Metsä Board’s customers make informed decisions on how they can reduce the carbon footprint of packaging.

“Many of our customers are committed to reducing their carbon footprint, and we’re able to help them with their targets by reducing the carbon footprint of our paperboard. The natural gas used in the manufacturing process can be replaced with biogas, for example. Metsä Group has set the ambitious target of making all of its mills fossil-free by 2030,” says Pirita Mikkanen, Vice President, Energy, at Metsä Group.

“Cooperation with Metsä Group shows how Gasum’s products and services can reduce emissions throughout production chains. Emissions are cut not only for our customers but also for their customers. Metsä Group has an ambitious target concerning fossil-free mills, and it’s great that Gasum is able to contribute towards Metsä achieving its target by providing it with a renewable fuel that’s available right now and not at some point in the future,” says Ville Pesonen, Gasum Vice President for Industry and Traffic.

Using biogas to cut industry emissions without additional investments

Pirita Mikkanen from Metsä Group says that customers opting for low-emission paperboards are typically large actors with strict sustainability targets. Once they have managed to cut emissions from their own operations, they start looking at further stages and suppliers in the supply chain.

An advantage of biogas in the green transition is that biogas and natural gas are interchangeable and can be mixed with each other. There is no need for any additional investments in new equipment.

Gasum produces renewable biogas from various waste streams of industry, agriculture and households. This means the life cycle emissions of biogas are on average 90% lower compared to traditional fossil fuels. When produced from manure, biogas can even prevent more emissions than are generated from its production and use.

Also in the future pipeline is renewable gas made from hydrogen produced using renewable electricity.

Gasum’s strategic goal is to bring seven terawatt hours of renewable gas yearly to the market by 2027, which is three times more than today. Reaching this target will mean a total saving of 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions for Gasum’s customers.