PAPERBOARD PACKAGING
that was cut down ten years earlier. “This was maybe 80 years or so when they cut it and here you can see the annual rings,” he said.
“An annual ring is actually the difference between winter and summer; so the summer period is a bit lighter – that’s when the tree is growing – and winter up here is pretty grim, so then they almost stopped growing completely and it becomes a dark line. That’s what forms the annual ring.”
While the primary purpose of the harvested trees is for timber, the many parts of the trunk that are offcut are pulped, essentially making paperboard the original upcycled product. “If you want to take timber for building or furniture, you need to cut it into squares,” said Granås. “Obviously, there are plenty of parts on the sides that you can’t use for that; these are the parts that we use to make paperboard.
“The big trees that are harvested like this, they are not used for making paperboard primarily, they are used for sawn-off timber, and then the leftover parts and also the top, which is thinner and you can’t put into a sawmill, we make paperboard from those parts.”
PROTECTING FOREST BIODIVERSITY
Of course, only growing trees destined for the sawmill would be the opposite of sustainable.
Demonstrating the biodiversity of Holmen Iggesund’s forest, Granås said: “We have young pine trees waiting to grow. This is what we have planted here on purpose. But also we have other things coming up: there is birch, sometimes called silverbirch for its silvery colour, which we also use a bit in making paperboard.
“We also have rowan, or sometimes rowan oak, which has orange berries in the winter and in the fall.
“This is a favourite food for moose – they like this a lot. There are plenty of areas where something has been munching away. It’s been trimmed a bit by the moose.”
He explains that “while these trees
don’t become very big, they’re still part of the biodiversity of this area”. Maintaining the forest’s biodiversity is something Granås is passionate about. Another approach to this end is essentially leaving things to rot. “Something that is very important to the forest is dead, decomposing wood – it is very important to the insects that thrive in that,” he added.
“Once we’d done the harvesting, we realised there was not enough deadwood standing here and that we should have a little bit more of it. So, instead of taking the whole of this tree, for example, we left a bit. It’s cut off at about 3-4m and this has now become the home of numerous insects, fungi, algae, mosses and lichens. And, of course, these wood-eating insects are food for woodpeckers and other birds.” He described the 4m of dead stump as “an engine for biodiversity in this harvesting area”. “There’s no other reason to do this other than ensuring biodiversity,” he explained. “It’s a way to make sure that all species that are naturally occurring in forests are kept: big, small, or really small.”
As well as strategically leaving deadwood, Holmen Iggesund also sees biodiversity benefits in keeping some harvestable trees standing. “Pine trees grow one layer of branches per year, which means that
Beauty product packaging made using paperboard from Holmen Iggesund
you can count how old they are – at least when they are small,” Granås explained, demonstrating the height difference between a seven year old pine tree, and a ‘future tree’, the name Holmen Iggesund has for the trees it leaves alone to preserve biodiversity in the forest.
“Here we have left what is considered a ‘future tree’,” Granås said. “So this ‘big brother’ they left on purpose when they did the harvesting. We could have taken it home, it’s a nice tall pine tree. But we wanted to leave this in order to break up the age structure of this forest area. “It’s good to have some older trees, so that nesting birds that need older trees can use these ones. And this tree is now a father with plenty of seedlings around the base.
“So this is what we really mean when we say renewable and renewable packaging,” Granås summed up. “We have taken the leftovers from sawmills, from wood that is coming from sustainably managed forests like this one.
“And then we make pulp, then paper and paperboard from it, and we make sure that everything is regenerated, so that future generations can do exactly what we do – enjoy renewable products”
cosmeticsbusiness.com
January 2023 37
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