On Monday, Sweden‘s Essity, the world’s second-largest supplier of consumer tissue (and largest professional hygiene product maker) announced that it is testing a full switch from natural gas to biofuel energy at its paper tissue production facility in Lilla Edet, Sweden. If successful, Essity’s Lilla Edet factory could become the world’s first large-scale paper production facility completely free of fossil CO2 emissions.
According to 2018 figures from the European Union, the paper and pulp industry is Europe’s fourth-most energy intensive industry, with tissue and paper towel production emitting more carbon-per-ton of paper than any other paper grade (this according to trade pub Tissue World). Essity–which once belonged to the forestry and paper giant SCA Group–appears poised to become an industry influencer in the sustainable paper production chain, having logged $13.8 billion in 2020 revenues across 150 global markets. The company is a favorite of Scandinavian institutional investors, with listed asset manager AB Industrivärden its largest shareholder (Essity is its third-largest portfolio holding), followed by Swedish pension fund AMF Insurance and Funds and Norges Bank Investment Management, which (ironically enough) manages the assets of the Norwegian oil fund.
“The ambition for our production facility in Lilla Edet, Sweden, to be the world’s first tissue mill with emission-free production, is another example of Essity setting the future standards for sustainable tissue manufacturing,” said Essity’s President of Global Manufacturing Donato Giorgio.
Essity ran a series of successful shorter tests of biogas-fueled production at Lilla Edet earlier this year. The company will now conduct a longer test run replacing natural gas with biogas energy for producing Tork and Lotus-branded consumer tissue products.
While both natural gas and biogas contain methane, Essity notes, biogas is renewably produced through the digestion of biological waste, and does not generate fossil CO2 emissions.
Going public
Essity has publicly committed to a 25 percent target reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions from energy and electricity use by the year 2030, both within the company and for purchased electricity, compared to the 2016 base year. As of 2020, Essity has cut its emissions by 2011 compared to that base year. Additionally, Essity has committed to an 18 percent reduction (also from 2016 levels) in greenhouse gas emissions from purchased key raw materials, transport, waste generated in operations and end-of-life treatment of sold products.
Earlier this month, Essity announced a new sustainable product rollout in its feminine care line, a product segment responsible for 15 tons of annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to United Nations figures. The company is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of feminine care products, the third largest in Europe and the market leader in Latin America, producing pads, panty liners, tampons, intimate soaps, intimate wipes and washable absorbent underwear under the Libresse, Bodyform, Nana, Saba and Nosotras labels, and is now rolling out its reusable menstrual cup product, the Libresse V-Cup, made from medical-grade silicone.
Last year, Essity was included in the Household Products category of the 2020 Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index, which tracks sustainability performance metrics of the top 20 percent of the 600 largest European companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index. Essity received high marks for its environmental and social reporting, as well as its work with suppliers, brand work, innovation and climate strategy.
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