M-real, Europe's leading primary fibre paperboard producer and major paper supplier, has met its target to implement an Energy Efficiency System (EES) in all its production units by the end of 2009. M-real is among the first companies in the world to adopt such a management system, now integrated into M-real's operating policies and providing a foundation for the company's continuous energy efficiency improvement activities in the future.
"The EES not only provides answers to internal obligations, it also proves to our customers that we take measures to cut down our own energy consumption and thereby fulfil our share in combating climate change," says Mikko Helander, CEO of M-real. "This system allows us to improve energy efficiency thoroughly throughout the company. Energy efficiency is now a systematic and visible part of M-real's daily operations," he continues.
Several operational energy efficiency projects are underway within the system; on average 50-100 projects a year. The total amount of energy saved in one year, as a result of these projects, so far equals the amount of energy consumed by a small town.
The latest major project to improve M-real's energy efficiency is the Husum mill's new turbine investment, totalling EUR 22 million. The measures will improve electricity self-sufficiency at the Husum site from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. The investment is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
Optimisation of energy efficiency has a key role in M-real and environmental issues are closely related to energy, with M-real's EES being integrated to the ISO 14001 environmental standard. M-real continues to take measures to reduce its impact on climate and the environment in general. Its carbon dioxide emissions have already decreased by almost 20,000 metric tonnes a year.
