By promoting responsible packaging, everybody can all support sustainable forest management, and in doing so, care for forest environments and their sensitive ecosystems.

BillerudKorsnäs often says that packaging is about the material and when it comes to responsible packaging that is indeed true. Today, packaging producers and brand owners have a choice. They can actively contribute to caring for forests and sensitive ecosystems by supporting sustainable forest management, by choosing the "right" responsible packaging.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has defined sustainable forest management as:

"The stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems."

Swedish forests are getting bigger

Swedish forest industries are more productive than ever before; yet paradoxically the volume of forest in Sweden has increased by 95% in the last 95 years. Since the introduction of the Swedish Forestry Act (1903), long-term stewardship has been fundamental to forest management.

It's worth noting that the ratio of forest growth to volume cut is far greater today than when measuring began in the 1920s. There is a greater focus on conservation and there are more trees left standing today.

A sustainable future

In an industry that depends on the use of natural renewable resources, responsible harvesting and environmental stewardship are important steps towards a sustainable future. However, they are just parts of a larger, integrated effort towards reducing environmental impact.

BillerudKorsnäs continuously works hard to increase the efficiency of its operations to reduce resource consumption, and invests in technologies to increase the use, or repurposing of excess industrial energy. These are essential to the development of its business and the evolution of responsible business practices across industries.

High growth helps mitigate climate change

Active forestry means that high growth can be maintained over a long period and the forest can bind more carbon dioxide, helping to reduce the greenhouse effect. In its annual emissions of greenhouse gases report to the UN, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency showed that the forest's net binding of carbon dioxide was greater than half of all the emissions in Sweden.

Who certifies the forests?

All raw wood material in paper, carton and pulp production from BillerudKorsnäs must come from forests certified under FSC or PEFC, or from a controlled origin in line with FSC Chain of Custody/Controlled Wood, meeting the demand for sales of certified products.

However, supporting and developing natural values and ensuring that the social values of the forest can be widely enjoyed involve extensive work.

Only a small proportion of the forests across the globe are certified, although in the Nordic and Baltic countries where BillerudKorsnäs sources raw materials, much of the forest land has been certified. In fact, BillerudKorsnäs has helped many private owners to get their forest areas certified.

What does successful forestry look like?

In Sweden (home of BillerudKorsnäs) the Swedish Forestry Act has long been the basis for sustainable forestry. Today, the Act is applied in combination with the certification schemes, which define the ways in which forest production, nature conservation, cultural heritage preservation and reindeer husbandry must be taken into consideration.

With its management system that includes well-defined targets, comprehensive policies and clear guidelines, BillerudKorsnäs ensures responsible origins for all wood purchasing. A large portion of purchased wood comes from certified forestland, which means that all actions are reviewed by external, independent auditing companies.