The production at UPM Timber’s sawmills has been running fossil-free since 2020. As part of our customer promise Setting the Standard, we try to find ways to reduce our emissions elsewhere as well. For example, we recently announced about the use of renewable diesel in sawn timber transport from Seikku sawmill to the port of Rauma.
Now we are taking a significant step in the internal logistics of our sawmills. Starting April 1st, the internal logistics will be fossil-free as we begin to use exclusively renewable diesel. This means that the forklifts and other heavy equipment in all our four sawmills will be running with renewable diesel. By making this change, we can reduce the CO₂ emissions of our sawmills’ internal logistics by upto 90%, compared to using fossil-based diesel. It also reduces the total emissions of our operations down to minimum and makes the carbon footprint of our sawn timber products even smaller.
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“Internal logistics is one clear source of emissions which is completely under our own control. That’s why it was clear that we wanted to make this shift to fossil-free internal logistics”, says Director, Sustainability and Investments Thomas Westerback.
After this newest development, the sustainability work in our operations will continue even further. We will search for ways to also make our internal logistics even more sustainable.
Concrete actions can bring value to our customers
Switching to renewable diesel has been received well by our contractors who operate the heavy equipment at the sawmills.
“It has been great to see that our partners value and support our sustainability work. The contractors have been very open to switching to renewable diesel, and we appreciate that”, Westerback says.
He thinks that even though the change comes with a cost increase to UPM Timber, it is an important step to take in our journey towards being an industry forerunner and a responsible supplier. He sees sustainability actions as investments into bringing our strategy to fruition and maintaining strong customer relationships.
“Sustainability actions are an integral part of our strategy, so this aligns perfectly with it. I believe we can also provide added value to our customers by becoming as responsible a supplier as possible. UPM Timber aims to be a forerunner in sustainability within the timber industry, and we are taking concrete steps towards that.”