timber news 3/2009 - SCA Forest Products AB

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Two for the price of one:Cutting costs and CO 2The link between cutting CO 2 emissions and cuttingbusiness costs was the focus of SCA Timber’sJune conference on ‘Forests, Wood Supply and theLow Carbon Economy’.To mark the 10 th anniversaryof its FSC forest managementcertification, SCA TimberSupply’s special conference onCO 2 and cost reduction in Junebrought together business acrossthe wood supply chain, from procurementand sustainability managersto suppliers – builders’ andtimber merchants and wood productmanufacturers.Conference delegate David Berryis managing director of independentbuilders’ merchants C&WBerry Ltd and timber chairman ofmerchant buying group CEMCO.“As individuals we have our ownpersonal concerns about climatechange. At business level we arealso aware of the government’sinterest in carbon reduction andare monitoring it closely,” he commented.”When tendering forbusiness, pre-qualification questionnairesnow demand that companiesare able to tick certainboxes such as timber certificationand waste management. As carbonbecomes a matter of competitiveadvantage, so companies will makethe changes necessary to continuewinning business.”The conference heard that thecarbon footprint of one cubicmetre of wood products fromSCA, from tree nursery to despatchquayside in Sweden, is 33kg CO 2– roughly the footprint of onefamily-sized roast beef joint forSunday lunch, or to using 14 litresof diesel. Compared to other constructionmaterials, this equates toslightly more than five per cent ofthe emissions from the productionof a corresponding weight of aluminiumand far less than five percent of the emissions from thesame weight of PVC.The growth of one cubic metreof wood in SCA’s forests innorthern Sweden sequesters 1.3tonnes of carbon dioxide from theatmosphere. Since the growth inSCA’s forest is 25 per cent higherthan felling, a net total of 250 kgof carbon dioxide is sequesteredfor every cubic metre of sawntimber produced. Additional climatebenefits derive from SCA utilisingits production sawdust asbiofuel.SCA uses the sawdust from producinga cubic metre of sawntimber to make biofuel pellets forenergy. To put the additional benefitsinto perspective, if substitutingoil-based energy for this smallamount of pellets , the CO 2 emissionsfrom the oil would amountto more than the emissions fromSCA’s production and transport ofthe cubic metre of sawn timberdelivered to SCA Timber Supply inthe UK.CEMCO’s Timber group chairman David Berry of C & W Berry (right) talks with Rob Simpson of SCA.Many organisations in Britainthat fall beyond the scope of EUemissions trading are now subjectto a new cap and trade scheme:the Carbon Reduction Commitment.It affects SCA’s larger UKwood customers, many of whomwere amongst the conferenceaudience. From national builders’merchant chain Travis Perkins plc,Environmental Manager JezCutler was interested in the presentationof SCA’s carbon factsand figures: “Travis Perkins anticipatesthat customers will soon beasking for detailed information oncarbon footprint. We will in turnbe asking our suppliers for theirdata. It is good to see SCA bravelycontributing to the debate, andcoming forward with well-foundedinformation.”timbernews | 4
SCA Timber Supply’s Environmental& Quality AssuranceManager, Bob Bastow, had produceda model to help customerscalculate the effect of theirdemands upon SCA productcarbon footprints. His researchrevealed that delivering ‘small’orders increases the distributionelement of a product’s carbonfootprint by 50 per cent. Sinceroad transport is expected to beincluded in EU’s Emissions TradingScheme by 2013, this differencecan be translated intomoney.Bob Bastow, who has alreadyhelped many UK timber customersto achieve FSC-certification, isnow starting to help customers tomap their SCA product carbonfootprints: “Working togetherwith customers using our ‘carboncalculator’, an accurate figure canbe pinpointed for the CO 2 generatedfor each cubic metre oftimber delivered to end users. Cuttingtransport and packaging willreduce everyone’s business costs,”Bob confirmed to conference delegates.SCA Timber Supply’s SalesDirector Stephen King detailed thecompany’s focus on helpingcustomers to reduce wood wasteby tailoring products to theirneeds. “We are now embarking ontechnical efficiency projects linkingthe whole supply chain, from SCAas producers through to the constructionand maintenance organisationswhich eventually utiliseour material in homes and buildings,”he outlined.“An interesting revelation, asyou start mapping carbon footprints,is that reducing carbondioxide emissions is very much amatter of efficient resource management”,said Robert Simpson,Managing Director of SCA TimberSupply. “In partnership with ourcustomers, we can enhance the climatebenefits of wood products.Efficient production, designing outwaste and developing efficient distributionreduces costs throughoutthe supply chain.”Mike Jeffree, Editor of Timber Trades Journal and Timber & Sustainable Building, kindly acted as host for theconference Q&A sessions. Here he puts SCA’s Bob Bastow under the spotlight.With several methodologies forcalculating carbon footprints currentlyavailable, delegate BobDeadman, Group Negotiator forGrafton Merchanting GB andSelco, gave his reaction to the SCAconference: “I found the proceedingsmost illuminating. The key isthat we should all move forwardtogether as an industry on carboncalculations and reporting. If wedon’t there’s a danger that carbonlabelling could become like foodlabelling in the UK, with so manysystems in operation that thepublic close their minds to thewhole issue. The road to perditon,as they say, is paved with goodintentions. The industry is beginningto move the right way butthere’s a distinct danger of fragmentation,which should be avoidedat all costs.”Meeting of minds: foreground – John White, CEO of the UK Timber Trade Federation (left) talks with JermainCheetham, Environmental Manager, Wolseley; rearground: Stephen King of SCA talks with Mark Bowers,Procurement Director, Timber Group, Saint-Gobain Building Distribution.Photo: Prestige Photography5 | timbernews
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timber news 3/2009 - SCA Forest Products AB

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