Metsä Tissue is dedicated to maximizing the recycling of industrial by-products, such as de-inking sludge generated during the recovered paper de-inking process. It promotes this work through Finncao Oy, a company founded in 1999 and acquired wholly by Metsä Tissue earlier this year.“Finncao offers us an interface for maximizing the sound and efficient recycling of industrial by-products generated during our production processes,” says Metsä Tissue's CEO, Hannu Kottonen. “We currently recycle 98 per cent of all our de-inking sludge, and we intend to maintain a high recycling percentage, even though reduced possibilities at landfill construction and inflexible environmental permit procedures in Finland have made this more difficult.”Finncao is currently exploring new potential applications and carrying out research and experiments together with various partners. “In the future, de-inking sludge and ash from Mänttä mill could be recycled more extensively in applications such as sub-layers in jogging tracks, cross-country skiing trails, sports tracks and fields, golf courses and downhill skiing slopes,” says Mänttä mill's Environment and Quality Manager, Jonna

Haapamäki-Syrjälä, who has been involved in Finncao's recent projects. "Thanks to its excellent formability and low permeability, it makes an excellent material for structures such as noise barriers. Soundwalls and embankments are in fact the next big applications we are looking into. In structures like these, it absolutely makes sense to recycle industrial by-products rather than use virgin raw materials." “Mänttä's de-inking sludge offers outstanding features such as low water permeability, light weight compared with rock-based raw materials, excellent formability and flexibility - all of which are definite advantages in the construction and use of jogging tracks and ball parks,” says Haapamäki-Syrjälä.