What do the consumers know about Swedish forestry?
If consumers are well informed and understand where their everyday products come from, our hope is that they will make more climate-smart choices. But how much do they know? We spent a day at one of London’s busiest train stations, Waterloo, interviewing consumers from all walks of life to find out what they think about sustainability and Swedish forestry.
Sustainability and purchasing decisions
How informed are the british when it comes to the sustainability aspects of everyday products and their packaging? To what extent do they consider the climate impact, origin and manufacturing of a product before buying?
The forest works for the climate
The more we use the raw material from the forest, the greater the climate benefits. Growing trees bind lots of carbon dioxide, but even when the raw material is processed, the same amount of carbon dioxide continues to be stored, throughout the life of the product. The forest is helping to replace fossil materials in a growing number of applications – thus reducing carbon dioxide and its climate-change effect.
Confirmed: Södra’s net impact on climate change is strongly positive
For the first time, Södra can now present its positive impact on climate change. The net impact is positive, due to the growth of forests owned by our 52,000 members, and the use of forest products to replace more emission-intensive products and energy.
Let´s make a sustainable future together
For us, one word stands out as we face the challenge of global climate change: "together". Together with our customers, we can find renewable solutions and create sustainable value chains, from raw material to final products.
Sweden and family forestry
Responsibly- managed forests are a Swedish tradition- and at Södra, they´re the foundation for everything we do. We asked British consumers to estimate how much of Sweden´s land area is covered by forest, and to guess how many trees are replanted by Södra´s 52,000 family foresters. How far off were they?
We own Södra together
Södra is an economic association, where it’s profitable and free of charge to be a member. More than 50,000 forest owners in southern Sweden already know this. Together we find new solutions, help create the products of tomorrow – and share the profits. Together, we also form a leading forest industry group, big enough to be an important influencer in many contexts.
We are family forestry
Today, there are more than 50,000 of us. For decades now, we have been an integral part of the forest in southern Sweden. We are hereon the ground, working, planning and caring. Collectively we are family forestry. Our commitment to the forest is long-term. We deliver renewable raw material to out own industries. Something we have invested in strategically for decades, creating local jobs and providing society with valuable everyday products.
Family forestry helps grow biodiversity
The more than 50,000 family foresters that make up the Södra group know all too well that we must cherish our forests. Many of them are sixth or seventh-generation forest owners. They see themselves as custodians of their forest for the future: having inherited their estates, they will pass them on to the next generation, and the next. That’s why for every tree our members harvest, they plant three more in its place.
Paper pulp and a fossil-free future
We can only create a sustainable society if we slash our use of finite resources such as oil.
Are British consumers aware that paper pulp is a renewable material?
Is the green transition important to them?
Innovation in paper pulp
Södra offers a broad spectrum of fibre-based pulp products for a variety of paper and textile applications. Higher product quality and more resource-efficient mills have high priority in development work.
A fossil-free Södra
Södra´s goal is to reduce scope1, 2 and 3 emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to the base yeear 2020. Although we can make a difference, we can’t solve the problem on our own. To meet the challenge, we are working to stimulate both supply and demand and we know that bold policy decisions are required to steer developments in the right direction.
Climate-positive operations
Fossil-free and climate-positive operations are at the top of our agenda. And this is where forests play a crucial role. Renewable and growing forests absorb large amounts of CO₂. Forest products can also replace fossil raw materials in a wide range of applications.
FAQ about family forestry from Södra
Shouldn´t we leave every tree standing fo the sake of the climate?
Climate change has been caused by man's use of fossil resources, and we believe that phasing out their use is the world’s number one priority. The forest and forest products have an important role to play in helping reduce our dependence on fossil-based materials. Sustainably-managed forests can be a renewable source of material to make products and energy to replace fossil-based ones.
We´re in a hurry- shouldn´t we use the forest in the short term for carbon sequestration?
The forest plays an important role in carbon sequestration, but it is also a carbon store that is vulnerable to storms, fire or insect infestation, all of which we have experienced in Sweden, not least in Götaland. It is therefore a risky climate strategy to just leave the forest standing and to enable the continued use of fossil resources instead of using the forest raw material to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
Climate change is bringing higher temperatures and more extreme weather, further increasing the risks of relying on old forests. We’re already seeing widespread climate-related damage to forests in Central Europe.
How is biodiversity affected by our forestry?
People have an impact on the forest. That’s why it’s important that our forestry methods are devised to ensure biodiversity. In the last 20 years, more trees have been left to grow old, the introduction of hardwoods into coniferous forest has increased and more dead wood has been left undisturbed. These initiatives are important for many species and contribute to a more varied forest landscape. But the work does not stop here: we are continually developing our forest management for climate resilience. We take decisive action to preserve biodiversity, both through good environmental practice in all our forestry activities, and through forests which are set aside voluntarily for nature conservation.
Is there a risk that today’s efficient forest practices will lead to monocultures?
Only 20 percent of the forests managed by Södra's family forest owners have a single tree species dominating by more than 70 percent. Most of the forests consist of mixed species. 16 percent of our members' forest area, or around 2.7 million hectares, is dominated by deciduous forest. Within the production areas, the trees are often roughly the same age, because this makes cultivation easier. But even here you’’ find set-aside areas, buffer zones and “eternal” trees that help make the forest varied and inviting. We want to make it easier for forest owners to create greater diversity by developing methods to create mixed forests of pine and spruce, but also by cultivating more hardwood seedlin.
Pulp and all its possibilities
In the Pulp section of this website, you can learn more about the many sustainable solutions and products that our pulp makes possible. With state-of-the-art manufacturing and focus on innovation, we produce a wide range of paper pulp, along with dissolving pulp and OnceMore®, our unique product for large-scale textile recycling.
Contact us
Paper pulp
Jens Hallendorff
Head of Sales Paper Pulp Global
jens.hallendorff@sodra.com
Phone: +46 72 23 51 029
Maria Staxhammar
Sales Director, Nordic countries and UK
Phone: +46 70 25 64 546
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Tristan Peil
Sales Director
Phone: +49 17 09 61 10 07
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Martin Chovan
Sales Director
Phone: +49 16 02 01 32 98
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Alexandra Pisano
Sales Director
Phone: +46 72 223 05 73
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Benjamin Brück
Head of Business Development
Phone: +49 17 08 11 378 5
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Dag Benestad
Sales Director, China and Indonesia
Phone: +47 92 03 071 5
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Oliver Söder
Sales Director, Germany and Austria
Phone: +49 89 89 06 761 00
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Hågen Rismark
Sales Director, Non-European markets
Phone: +47 90 10 17 80
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Dissolving pulp
Johannes Bogren
Vice President, Södra Bioproducts
Phone: +46 340 63 34 15
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Dag Benestad
Sales Director, Dissolving pulp
Phone: +47 92 03 071 5
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Catharina Fechter
Technical Product Manager
Phone: +46 70 66 55 795
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Technical Product Manager
Ann Nilsson
Technical product manager, Speciality paper
Phone: +46 70 35 84 498
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Peter Carlsson
Technical product manager, Tissue
Phone: +46 70 38 50 841
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Pär Andersson
Technical product manager, Printing paper, Board products
Phone: + 46 70 58 82 143
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