TISSUE MAKER SUPPORT WORLD PULP&PAPER 22 WHAT CONSUMERS WANT Another topic never far from the agenda in tissue making is sustainability. Niemi sees the introduction of Metsä Fibre’s bioproduct mill at Äänekoski as a major advantage in supporting tissue producers. With consumers looking to tissue products with a keen eye for sustainability credentials as well as a general perception of their environmental friendliness, the new facility offers a number of benefits. “The new mill is fossil-fuel free,” explains Niemi. “When making tissue With consumers looking for sustainability credentials as well as environmental friendliness, the new facility offers a number of benefits. products such as toilet tissue, kitchen towels and facial tissues, there is a certain ecological image to be sustained. The bioproduct mill’s high energy efficiency, low emissions and fossil-fuel-free production are sure to be appealing attributes for tissue producers.” THE MARKET TO COME The Äänekoski bioproduct mill was predominately created to address continuing demand in the Asian markets. While he insists he is no expert on the region, Niemi observes the growing taste in certain Chinese cities for embossed toilet tissue – perhaps as a consequence of the growing middle class and their increased propensity for international travel. For this reason, embossing is most certainly a future technical challenge for the country’s papermakers, and one with which Metsä Fibre is well positioned to assist with. In Europe, over 90 per cent of the comparable local products are embossed, enabled, as we have already heard, by the Figure 4. Consumers today are looking to tissue products with a keen eye for sustainability credentials.