Metsä Tissue, part of Metsä Group, has applied for a new environmental permit in Mariestad, Sweden, as part of its Future Mill programme.

The company initiated an environmental permit process and a pre-feasibility study to create preconditions to double the company’s tissue paper production in two phases and to construct an automated warehouse and an office building in the Mariestad mill site.

According to the announcement, the study is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021, in which case the final investment decision concerning the first phase could be made during the second half of 2021, after the environmental permit has been granted.

In the first phase, the plan includes a new tissue paper machine, an automated warehouse and an office building in the Mariestad mill. The possible investments in first phase are estimated to amount to approximately EUR 230 million. The planned investments would increase Mariestad’s annual tissue paper production capacity by 50,000 tonnes fully as of 2024. The plans and scope of the project may change as a result of the pre-feasibility study.

In April 2019, Metsä Tissue published its new strategy, which includes the Future Mill programme. The programme aims to increase the long-term industrial efficiency and environmental performance of the tissue paper business. In line with its parent company’s goals, Metsä Tissue is also aiming for totally fossil-free mills by 2030. Improving the product quality and ensuring the availability of premium tissue paper are also part of the programme.