Metsä Tissue takes a fresh look at sustainability in the hygiene and cleaning sector
News 03.12.2024
Metsä Tissue, the Finnish tissue paper manufacturer, is a main partner at the Finnclean 2025 trade fair. The company is looking forward to engaging with its customers at the fair and will be presenting its new hygiene concept that challenges the way sustainability is viewed in the cleaning industry.
Metsä Tissue is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of toilet, household and hand towel tissues. The company has been in business for more than 150 years, since the Serlachius paper mill was founded in Mänttä. Today, Metsä Tissue is part of the Metsä Group, owned by 90,000 Finnish forest owners. The Group controls the entire value chain of its production, from the forest to the end products.
Metsä Tissue manufactures tissue products for household and professional use. Lambi and Serla are well-known consumer brands in Finland, while Katrin is Metsä Tissue brand for professional away-from-home use areas. The Katrin product range is familiar to Finns from schools, hospitals, workplaces and other public places. According to the 2023 consumer survey, Katrin is the most recognizable washroom brand in Finland. It is perceived as reliable and familiar, a Finnish classic.
Handwashing enhances safety
The theme of Finnclean 2025 is “Cleanliness is safety”. Julia Laaksonen, Marketing Manager at Metsä Tissue, can easily second this theme.
“For us, hand hygiene is the key. According to survey, nine out of ten Finns wash their hands after using a public toilet. This is a good result, but there is still room for improvement. Infections, seasonal flu and pandemics are easily spread via hands. We can protect each other at home and at work by washing our hands,” says Laaksonen.
Safety also means ensuring security of supply. “It is important for us to support Finnish work and industry and to strengthen security of supply. Metsä Tissue’s paper products sold in Finland come from the Mänttä mill. Domestic production ensures that paper is available even in crisis situations,” Laaksonen continues.
Aiming for fossil-free production
In Metsä Tissue’s operations, environmental sustainability permeates all stages of the product life cycle. The company’s main raw material is fresh fibre from northern forests. “In 2023, 90% of our fibre was either PEFC or FSC® certified, and the remaining 10% came from controlled sources, which means that all the virgin fibre we use can be traced,” says Julia Laaksonen.
In the spring of 2024, Metsä Tissue announced an investment program for the Mänttä mill, which will see the mill modernised over the next five years. The modernisation will pay special attention to environmental and energy efficiency. The programme supports Metsä Group’s goal of fossil-free products and production facilities by 2030.
Metsä Tissue will also optimise its logistics, increase the share of recycled plastic in packaging and reduce the use of plastic. For several years now, the company’s website has featured a CO2 calculator for Katrin products, which has enabled users to study the carbon footprint of tissue paper products and paper consumption.
A new approach to sustainability
Metsä Tissue will present its new dispenser concept Freedom of Choice at Finnclean 2025. “When tendering for hygiene solutions, changing suppliers or paper type means that you need to replace the old dispensers with new ones even if they are still in good condition. The new Katrin dispensers are designed to fit all folded hand towels, so there is no need to change the dispenser when the supplier or paper product changes,” says Julia Laaksonen.
“Freedom of choice is a new way of looking at sustainability by extending the life cycle of the dispenser solution. A lot has already been done to improve the sustainability of raw material use and the production process. But especially with plastic products, we need to keep the product life cycle in mind and design products that are versatile and long-lasting. We want to challenge the industry to consider sustainability from a comprehensive perspective,” Laaksonen adds.
The number one trade fair for the cleaning industry
Metsä Tissue is one of Finnclean’s long-term partners. For Julia Laaksonen, this will be her second time at Finnclean.
“Finnclean is the number one event for us,” says Laaksonen. “There are not many trade fairs of this quality in Finland. We want to support the appreciation and development of the industry by being a main partner and helping to organise a good meeting place for everyone in the cleaning sector.”
Julia Laaksonen encourages visitors to drop by at Katrin’s booth. Laaksonen anticipates that the upcoming fair will spark discussion, especially regarding the CSRD directive and sustainability reporting, due to enter into force at the beginning of 2025.
“We have accurate and high-quality information about Katrin products and their value chain. This information is not only useful for reporting purposes, but can also enrich our customers’ sustainability communication,” says Julia Laaksonen. “We hope you will stop by for a chat. The fair is a great opportunity to exchange ideas and ask questions.”
Metsä Tissue values the views of its customers as well as the service providers who use the products in their daily work. These stakeholders are also consulted in Metsä Tissue’s product development. Products and dispensers must be easy to use to allow enough time for maintaining cleanliness. The Freedom of Choice dispenser concept makes it quicker and easier to maintain the cleaning supplies.
Metsä Tissue will attend the Finnclean trade fair with their Katrin hygiene brand at A 401. Finnclean trade fair at Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre on 19-20th March 2025.