Consumables

More with Less – UPM continues improving its energy and material efficiency

Monday 08. October 2012 - UPM is one of 250 Finnish companies participating to Motiva's Energy Saving Week. For UPM, taking part to Energy Saving Week for the third time is a natural choice. "During the past year UPM has focused especially on material efficiency by producing more with less energy, water and waste, and with lower carbon footprint", says Markku Taavitsainen, Director, Operations Support, UPM Paper Business Group.

UPM has developed the energy efficiency of its mills already for several years with the help of Energy Saving Campaign and investment programmes targeted for energy savings. Energy saving is nowadays an important part of the mills everyday work. More than 200 energy investments proof the excellence of the development work as well as the commitment of the UPM employees. With the help of these investments and energy efficient ways of working UPM has been able to decrease its mills’ energy consumption remarkably.
Last year UPM Paper Business Group started Material Efficiency programme. The aim of the programme is to reduce both process water consumption and raw material losses as well as to improve the effectiveness of process chemicals. During the first wave 17 investments were started with an average pay back time of 0.7 years. The material efficiency programme lasts for three years.
“The cornerstones for a successful Energy Saving Programme have been the strong commitment of our employees. We have also been able to apply the best energy saving ideas to other UPM mills. The same, successful concept has now been applied to Material Efficiency Programme, and we are hoping to see similar engagement and results”, says Markku Taavitsainen who is responsible for the programmes.