ESPOO, Finland,
Nov. 30, 2011
(Globe Newswire) -
To mark the United Nations International Year of Forests, Metsa Tissue is offering its personnel training on themes related to sustainable development, providing a comprehensive briefing on forest issues. Training is being given as a team effort between Metsaliitto, Metsa Tissue and WWF Finland.
Metsaliitto Group signed a cooperation agreement with WWF Finland earlier this year. Within the agreement Metsa Tissue,part of Metsaliitto Group and a leading European tissue and cooking paper products supplier, has offered training to almost 100 employees in three different regions on themes related to sustainable development, such as water and carbon footprint, forest certification as well as eco-labelling and environmental management systems. WWF representatives have joined the dialogue, offering insights mainly on the status of the world's forests.
"We have organised four full-day training sessions in three of Metsa Tissue's European regions. The fifth will be organised in January 2012 in Scandinavia. Additionally, an electronic self-learning tool prepared by WWF will be distributed to employees via the company intranet," says Riikka Joukio, SVP, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs.
The training emphasises the fact that a sustainable way of working is the foundation of all activity in both Metsaliitto Group and Metsa Tissue. Sustainability is part of every employee's daily work," says Hannu Kottonen, CEO. "We also welcome dialogue between WWF and our employees. The best ideas seldom come from just one individual or a homogenous group of people. Cooperation and different angles on common concerns are required," he adds.
"We have a great story to convey. Our raw material, wood fibre, is renewable, sourced either from sustainably managed forests or from recovered paper. Our operations are eco-efficient and all our paper products can be composted or burned. Today, many of our stakeholders want to hear the same story in greater detail - backed up with figures, certificates and labels. This is why we want to strengthen our employees' knowledge in sustainability issues," Kottonen adds.
"When discussing with customers and colleagues, we all seem to share the same interest and concern for our ecological footprint," says Mark Dewick, Sales Director, AfH UK & Ireland, who participated in the training arranged in October. "I believe it is possible to make improvements throughout the whole value chain. In order to improve the sustainability of the whole chain, a deep understanding of the key issues, a good dialogue and, naturally, a strong will are needed. The training has definitely given us tools for deepening our discussions with our stakeholders."
