Climate impact
Combatting climate change is the critical issue of our time. Society needs to do everything possible to stop oil dependency and replace fossil fuels and materials with renewable alternatives. Here, Billerud has an important role to play.
We manage a climate positive effect
Billerud, which stimulates responsible forest management and replace fossil-based products, strongly contributes to the transition to a climate-neutral society. The total positive climate effect of Billeruds European business is estimated at 5.4 million tons of CO2-equivalents. The potential effect is realised when our customers and consumers choose our paper instead of fossil-based materials. This corresponds to the emissions of the entire steel industry in Sweden, or about one third of all domestic transport in Sweden.
Our climate effect is defined as the sum of three components: net sink of carbon in the forest, fossil emissions in the value chain and displacement of fossil emissions when our products replace alternatives with a higher carbon footprint.
Read the report that quantifies our climate effect here: Billerud - a climate positive corporation.
Net sink of carbon in the forest
The foundation for our business is the sustainably growing forest. An active forestry with good growth provides the best climate benefit. We have limited corporately owned forests, but procure large quantities of wood from sustainably managed forests in Sweden, EU countries and in North America – forests that due to active management constitute major net sinks of carbon.
Read more about our work with the forest here: Sustainable wood supply.
Fossil emissions in the value chain
We are already 97 percent fossil free in our European production, and have ambitious targets to phase out the last 3 percent of fossil fuels. We have long-term climate targets for 2030 and 2050, in accordance with Science Based Targets and the Paris Agreement. The targets apply to both our own production and our value chain. In our value chain, purchasing of chemicals and transport is the biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions. By 2030, our Science Based Target is to achieve fossil-free production and a reduced climate impact from transport and purchasing.
Read about our sustainability targets and yearly results on this page.
Our fibre-based products replace alternatives with a higher climate footprint
To stop fossil dependency and reduce climate impact, society must choose materials that are renewable and recyclable. Billerud’s packaging products displace large quantities of fossil emissions when they replace alternatives made from plastic, metal or glass.
Read more about life cycle assessments (LCA) and environmental product declarations (EPD), where the environmental performance of a number of products are evaluated in greater detail and which demonstrate the difference between our products and conventional packaging.
We have received high ratings on our climate work in different external reviews, read more here: External reviews of our sustainability work.