Sustainability data and targets

Ahlstrom monitors its performance across key environmental, social, and governance areas through consistent and reliable data tracking.

The key environmental, social, and governance data informs our annual Sustainability Report, which is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and covers the reporting period from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024. To ensure credibility and transparency, the 2024 data has been independently assured by a third-party auditor.
 
We are committed to processing personal data responsibly, in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as other relevant national and international laws. In certain countries where we operate, local regulations restrict or prohibit the collection of specific demographic data, such as employees’ racial or ethnic origin. As a result, we do not collect or report this type of data in any of our locations.
 
Explore the dashboard below to see key sustainability indicators and progress.

GHG

 

Ahlstrom’s progress towards near-term emission reduction targets, thousand tons

Targets are validated by the Science  Based Targets initiative

The target boundary includes land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks. 

2024

2023

2022

2021 baseline

Target 2030

Scopes 1 and 2

 1,445 1,501 1,731 1,870 1 085
-42% from 2021

Scope 3

 1,870 1,786 2,072 2,218 1 663
-25% from 2021

 

 
GHG emissions, thousand tons actual emissions*

2024

2023

2022

2021 
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions 1,093 998 1,213 1,353
Scope 2 GHG emissions (market based)  353 466 490 497
Gross scope 3 GHG emissions** 2,693 2,565 2 936  3 085 
1. Purchased goods and services 1,282 1,196 1,379 1,486
2. Capital goods 10 19 18 11
3. Fuel and energy-related activities 266 282 314 347
4. Upstream transportation and distribution 323 308 379 384
5. Waste generated in operations 18 16 16 19
6. Business travel 4 4 3 1
7. Employee commuting 12 12 11 11
8. Upstream leased assets 1 1 1 1
9. Downstream trabsoprtation and distribution 84 81 98 105
10. Processing of sold products 291 267 285 294
11. Use of sold products 10 11 12 11
12. End of life treatment of sold products 376 341 372 378
13. Downstream leased assets 4 3 2 4
14. Franchises - -    -    -   
15. Investments 14 25 45 33

*Actual emissions reflect our emissions during the reporting year and include emissions from acquired companies starting from the date of ownership, and emissions from divested companies up to the point of divestment.
Therefore, these differ from the adjusted emissions for SBTi target, since those are modified to maintain a consistent baseline over time. In line with SBTi guidance, we retrospectively adjust the baseline and historical emissions to reflect significant acquisitions or divestments as if they had occurred at the start of the base year. This ensures comparability and integrity when tracking progress toward our long-term climate targets.

**Scope 3 emissions exclude divested Aspa and Stenay plants.

Energy

 

Energy consumption, MWh

 

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year

Fuel consumption from coal and coal products

 492,985   429,180   1,124,453 

 

 

Fuel consumption from crude oil and petroleum products

 189,035   179,333   213,115 

 

 

Fuel consumption from natural gas

 4,632,214   4,178,943   3,787,986 

 

 

Fuel consumption from other fossil sources

 42   41   539 

 

 

Total self generated energy from fossil sources

 5,314,277 4,787,496 5,126,093

 

 

Total purchased energy from fossil sources

 921,853   1,181,908  2,083,360* 

 

 
Total fossil energy consumption 6,236,129   5,969,404   7,209,453 

 

 
Share of fossil sources of total energy consumption, % 62% 61% 66%

 

 
Total nuclear energy consumption 530,031   411,127  0*

 

 
Share of nuclear sources of total energy consumption, % 5% 4% 0%

 

 
Fuel consumption from renewable sources including biomass, biofuels, biogas, hydrogen from renewable sources 2,840,611   3,102,319   3,618,023     
Consumption of self-generated non-fuel renewable energy 31,915   31,912   37,721     
Total self-generated energy from renewable sources, MWh 2872526 3,134,231  3,655,744    
Total purchased energy from renewable sources 344868 297941 0*    
Total renewable energy consumption MWh 3,217,394   3,432,172   3,655,744     
Share of renewable sources of total energy consumption, % 32% 35% 34%    
Total energy consumption, MWh 9,983,554   9,812,703   10,865,197     
Sold energy 323,090   62,454   23,053     
Total energy consumption excluding sold energy 9,660,464   9,750,250   10,842,144     
Energy intensity, MWh/turnover 0.003 0.003 -    

 

*Data collection on the purchased energy source mix began in 2023. For 2022 all purchased energy is allocated to fossil sources to follow worst case scenario principle.

Pollution

 

 

Pollution

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year
Emissions to air          
Total weight of air pollutants, tons:          
  • NOx as NO2 
 1,139   1,179   2,331     
  • Total Sulphur Emissions as SO2
  1,396   1,326   4,766     
  • Particulate Matter
  421   397   515     
  • VOC
 1,388 1,655 1,964    
Emissions to water          
Total weight of water pollutants, tons:          
  • TSS
 1583 1513 1662    
  • COD
 5480 5667 6391    
  • BOD5
 1743 1789 2338    
  • P
 14 21 27    
  • N
 0 0 0    

 

Water

Water

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year
Water intake cbm per ton 95.8 93.5 85.7 60 2030
Water intake, million cbm 149.5 145.3 150.6    
Water consumption, million cbm 4.8 5 5.7    

 

Waste

Waste

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year
Total waste generated, thousand wet tons 295.5 291.9 329.6    
Total weight of non-hazardous waste, thousand wet tons 289.3 285.3 319.9    
Total weight of hazardous waste, thousand wet tons 6.1 6.5 9.7    
Total weight of waste utilized, thousand wet tons 201.1 193.6 202.2    
Total weight of waste to landfill, thousand wet tons 94.0 97.3 125.2 0 2030
Total weight of waste incinerated w/o recovery, thousand wet tons 0.4 0.9 2.1    
Total weight of Non-recycled waste, thousand wet tons 94.3 98.2 127.3    
Percentage of non-recycled waste, % 32% 34% 39%    

 

Biodiversity

Biodiversity

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year
Key employees trained on biodiversity - - - 45 key positions trained 2027

 

Safety

Safety

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year
Employee safety participation 91% 91% 89% >94% 2024
Total Recordable Incident Rate 0.91 1 1.14 0 Ongoing
Number of days lost to work-related injuries, fatalities and ill health  1082 1050 1856    
Employee safety training hours per employee 19.81 21 18.1    

 

People

People

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year
Employee Net Promoter Score 39 31 16 Top decile (~46) 2026
Share of employees offered healthcare 100% 100% 100% 100% Ongoing
Share of employees covered with healthcare, B 94% 90% 91%    
Share of employees covered with healthcare, W 94% 94% 93%    
Ratio of the annual total compensation for the highest paid individual, to the median annual total compensation for all employees 24.9 25.1 20.9    
Share of employees covered by collective agreements 66% 70% 71%    
Number of facilities covered by collective agreements 26 27 27    
Reported child and forced labor cases via our speak up channel 0 0 0 0 Ongoing
Gender balance total workforce, females 20% 20% 19% 20% 2025
Gender balance all managers, females 22% 23% 22% 30% 2025
Gender balance top leaders, females  28% 26% 24% 40% 2025
Share of women hires 22% 23% 22%    
Share of office workers to participate in Performance discussions 93% 92% 97% >90% Ongoing
Site leader adherence to child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking policy 100% - - 100% Ongoing
Living wage analysis conducted on all employees 92% - - 100% 2025
Employee turnover % 11% 11% -    

 

Governance

Governance

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year

Number of reports of misconduct

32

22

10

 

 

Number of confirmed corruption incidents

0

0

0

 

 

Code of Conduct course completion

91%

97%

91%

100%

Ongoing

Information security course completion

62%

 

 

100%

Ongoing

Office workers trained on corruption, fraud and money laundering

 

  

 

100%

2027

 

Procurement

 

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year

Share of certified natural fiber

98%

98%

98%

100%

2030

Share of certified wood fiber

100%

100%

100%

 

 

Share of renewable fibers

94%

95%

95%

 

 

Share of raw material suppliers with contracts that include clauses on environmental and social requirements

100%

100%

100%

 

 

Supplier Code of Conduct compliance

79%

75%

75%

100%

2026

Supplier ESG engagement program participation

34% of total spend

-

-

50% of total spend

2025

Product KPIs

 

Product KPIs

KPIs

2024

2023

2022

Target

Target year
Share of Safe and Sustainable by Design 56% - - 80% 2030
Share of new and improved products 31% 27% 27% >25% 2026