Planet
Sustainability in focus

Planet

We are committed to UN Global Compact Ten Principles, including the environmental principles #7-9 to support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges, to undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility and to encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. In order to fulfil the expectations, we are targeting on continuous improvement for following material topics: Energy & Carbon Dioxide and Water and Sustainable Procurement. Our stewardship of the natural world, biodiversity, fighting deforestation and our resources is not only part of company success, but our legacy for future generations.

Energy and carbon emissions

Ahlstrom is dedicated to designing products and manufacturing processes that use energy, water, and raw materials more efficiently while using cleaner energy and reducing the emissions intensity in our energy systems. This is also essential in order to decrease emissions in the whole value chain and contribute to the Paris agreement on climate change. Energy is the primary source for the company’s CO2e emissions and based on a study done in 2020 on energy use and efficiency, a roadmap to reducing CO2e emissions has been designed.

In 2022, Ahlstrom committed to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and aims to reducing its Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 42% for the period 2021-2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

Energy and Carbon Emissions Target 2021-2030

 

CO2e emissions reduction -42% by 2030

 

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Water

Ensuring the access to clean water for people and business and a minimum impact from our operations to the surrounding environment and biodiversity are in key role on Ahlstrom’s sustainability agenda. Ahlstrom operates mainly in places that have good access to water resources, but also in some locations facing potential water shortages. To ensure the availability of water in the future to operations as well as to local communities, we will ensure that all sites in water stress areas have a water management plan in place.

Managing the Water Consumption Responsibly Target 2021-2025

 

All plants in water stressed areas have a water management plan

 

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More Paper, Less Water

When Ahlstrom decided to invest in a fourth vegetable parchment line at the Saint Severin plant in France, the question of reducing water usage and ensuring a secure water supply was high on the agenda. Extensive measures were taken to reduce the amount of water needed in the production process and to recycle as much as possible. Today up to 90% of the water is recycled back to be used again and the amount of water used per produced ton of paper has been reduced significantly.

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Supply chain

At Ahlstrom, we work to ensure that our inputs are responsibly sourced and that our natural fiber sourcing policies promote more sustainable forestry and agricultural practices. The company strives to make the supply chain as sustainable as possible and Ahlstrom expects its suppliers to uphold high standards for ethical and socially and environmentally responsible business practices. To support our Sustainable Supply Chain goals, we ensure that all of our chemical and fiber suppliers have signed our Supplier Code of Conduct and have undergone risk evaluation, and we have established responsible forest product sourcing targets.

Sustainable Procurement Targets 2021-2025

 

100% of CSR audits on risk assessed Suppliers with High risk status by 2025

 

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Learn more about our work in each of these areas in our Ahlstrom Sustainability Report