Responsible business choices
Stora Enso’s product and service stewardship starts with material sourcing and design and extends across the entire product lifespan, including end-of-life management.
We assess the health, safety, and environmental aspects at each stage. Global and EU standards, governmental policy and legislation, alongside customer needs and our own sustainability responsibilities, steer and guide the development of our products, services, and processes.Underlining our work
From biomaterials to wooden building and packaging, our divisions and business units share a commitment to responsible business, working to improve efficiency, minimise any adverse environmental, health and safety impacts as well as maximise the value of the solutions we offer.This is embedded through expertise, design, technology and process optimisation, lifecycle thinking, supply chain cooperation and communications, risk assessment, verification and transparency.
Practices and verification
Our Annual Report has further details on product safety, certifications, Environmental Product Declarations and life cycle assessments.Product safety
Stora Enso requires all its Suppliers to comply with the Group’s product safety requirements. Products covered by specific safety regulations include food contact materials, materials for toys, packaging for pharmaceuticals, and materials for personal care and hygiene products. Units producing these sensitive materials follow Good Manufacturing Practices – a set of widely recognised guidelines incorporated into EU regulations. Stora Enso follows legislation designed to protect human health and the environment, including regulation on chemical substances (REACH), the Biocidal Products Regulation, the Classification, Labelling, and Packaging Regulation, and relevant food contact legislation concerning food safety. Stora Enso’s production sites do not use or intentionally add any PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in the manufacturing of paper and paperboard products. Instead, the Group uses alternative barrier solutions in its packaging products to provide the necessary protection.
Certifications
The ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, BRCGS, and FDA product safety certificates issued to many of Stora Enso’s units further ensure that a systematic approach to food safety issues is applied. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, and ISO 45001 certified systems help to identify and meet customer requirements as well as to systematically improve product quality and environmental, energy, and occupational safety management. All the Group’s construction products are CE marked to guarantee that they comply with the relevant EU legislation. Many of Stora Enso’s products are FSC or PEFC certified or receive other verification for responsible chain-of-custody and due diligence.
Environmental product declarations
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) offered for all Stora Enso’s building products provide third-party verified information about the product’s environmental performance throughout its life cycle and are in line with relevant ISO and EN standards. EPDs help customers to assess the life cycle impacts of their construction projects and are an important resource for customers who wish to apply for building certification schemes or ecolabels for their products. Stora Enso is a member of the ECO Platform association, working to promote the sustainable development of the construction sector by providing credible and scientifically correct product data in EPDs.
Life cycle assessments
Stora Enso collects and regularly updates product-specific life cycle inventory data, which is typically used in Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) conducted by Stora Enso’s experts and customers, often in collaboration with academia, expert organisations, or industry associations.
