WISA plywood is a material that acts as a carbon storage and has very low fossil CO2 emissions over its life cycle. UPM Plywood is committed to UPM's target of reducing its own CO2 emissions by 65% and supply chain emissions by 30% by 2030. To achieve this goal, a fossil-free production plan, known as the carbon roadmap, has been created for the plywood mills. Thanks to the planned measures, customers can be confident that fossil CO2 emissions during the life cycle of WISA plywood will continue to decrease even further.
The 65% reduction target covers CO2 emissions from UPM Plywood´s own energy production and purchased electricity. According to Janne Hämäläinen, UPM Plywood's Energy Director, the company’s plywood mills produce heat and electricity needed in the production of WISA plywood mainly from wood-based residues, such as bark and wood chips.
In addition to their own energy production, the mills use purchased electricity. The majority of UPM Plywood's carbon footprint is made up of purchased energy, which is classified as scope 2 according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology.
"Therefore, it has been a priority to focus on minimising scope 2 emissions. In 2022, the Otepää mill in Estonia switched completely to CO2-free purchased electricity, and the zero emissions from the unit's purchased electricity significantly reduced the emissions of UPM Plywood as a whole," Hämäläinen says.