By 2030, humanity will need 50% more food, 45% more energy and 30% more water than now. Population growth and accelerating urbanisation will lead to competition over natural resources.

Global phenomena pushing towards a sustainable economy

People of the developed regions and the cities will become wealthier and more middle class. This will take place concurrently with increasing exploitation of resources and commodities. Environmental pollution and climate change are growing causes for concern. Digitalisation represents a major challenge in some sectors, while offering fresh business opportunities for others.

In 2025, the bioeconomy creates new economic growth and wellbeing as well as offers answers to challenges presented by megatrends like climate change. For companies, the bioeconomy brings new business possibilities and opportunities to produce products with higher added value.

For consumers, the bioeconomy introduces the opportunity to choose a more sustainable way to consume and live. People will want to make a difference by choosing products that have been made from renewable raw materials and produced more resource efficiently.

In 2030, the world will need:

Global megatrends guide consumption choices and influence which resources we use and how.

Informed consumers want to make a difference and a choice. They want to choose products that have been produced more resource efficiently and using renewable raw materials.

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CONSUMER CHOICES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Global phenomena pushing towards a sustainable economy Good living

Every day, 100,000 people around the world need a new home. By 2020, new homes will be needed for three billion people. Due to population growth and urbanisation, housing will be concentrated in cities. Construction will consume half of the world’s resources and produce 40% of all waste.

In 2025, lifestyles and individual needs will guide living and decorating choices. Ethical and environmental values are closely tied to housing and the living environment.

Wood is an answer to the needs and dreams of aware consumers who yearn for a good life. Wood products have an overwhelming competitive advantage because they are climate-friendly and re-newable. Wood is a material that enhances health and comfort, and it reduces stress just like being in nature.

Wood construction has developed into an industrial-scale busi-ness. Finland has a long tradition of wood construction and a wide range of expertise in the sector. Our knowledge of wood materials is extensive and we favour high-standard raw materials and inno-vative construction solutions. Finnish wood architecture and design are internationally recognised.

Wood construction and products slow climate changeWood can be used in all types of buildings: residential, public, commercial and recreational. The proliferation of wood construction and products slows climate change because trees bind atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is stored as carbon, first in the tree trunk and then in buildings for up to hundreds of years.

Wood can replace construction materials that are harmful to the environment. Combinations of wood and other construction materials are increasingly used to replace oil-based raw materials.

Manufacturers of special-purpose chemicals and technical materials can replace fossil-based raw materials with this renewable alternative. In the construction industry, for example, lignin offers sustainable alternatives to phenols in plywood and wood-panel glues as well as to the polyols used in foams.

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Pictures: 1. StoraEnso 2. UPM 3. StoraEnso 4. UPM 5. StoraEnso

Wood answers consumers’ needs and dreams about good living.

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Wellbeing and inspiring leisure time

Aware consumers choose sustainable ways to consume and live. They appreciate products and services that are tailored to their needs, as this is a way to stand out and make daily life easier.

Increasingly often, wood is used instead of plastic or other non-renewable materials in various products. Furthermore, wood and wood-based materials are incorporated into a great variety of items used in both everyday situations and in our leisure time, for example, in clothes, daily cosmet-

ics, pharmaceuticals, foods, sports equipment and small electrical devices. For many well-known brands, wood is a raw material that helps them stand out as well as to meet the demands of aware consumers.

Renewable and environmentally-friendly raw materialPaper demand has declined in the West, but consumption is growing in developing countries, for example in Africa and Asia, as demand for tissue and hygiene products increases.

Researchers have identified numerous compounds in wood and other forest raw materials that promote positive health effects and can be used by both the pharmaceutical and cosmetics indus-tries. The food industry produces added value for its customers by making the most of the health effects of wood. Food producers use wood-based ingredients that, for example, lower cholesterol.

Aware consumers select and use products that can be recy-cled and reused as raw material for new products and, finally, are employed in the generation of bioenergy. After use, raw materials made from wood pulp can be taken to handily located recycling points along thoroughfares.

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Pictures: 1. Metsä Group 2. StoraEnso 3. UPM 4. Onbone Oy 5. Metsä Group

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In 2025, several biorefinery construction projects are underway or planned in Finland. The forest industry’s biorefineries are located adjacent to pulp or paper mills, which means that wood raw material and related side-streams can be used efficiently to manu-facture different types of products.

Wood is a renewable and environmentally-friendly raw material, but it is also a source of energy. In accordance with the dictates of an efficient material economy, different tree parts are used as effectively as possible in the manufacture of various kinds of prod-ucts. Wood is used as thoroughly and rationally as possible before it is utilised in energy generation. For example, biofuels like renewable diesel can be refined from logging residues, stumps and bark.

Pulp and paper mills, just like biorefineries, deliver renewable energy as a by-product, which is also used to power these facilities. After they have been recycled, forest industry products can, at the end of their life cycle, be used as renewable energy.

Sustainable mobility and renewable energy

An increasing number of people live mobile lives due to their domestic, work and leisure activities. The share of commuters in particular has grown due to workplaces concentrating in the cities. The world’s growing demand for energy threatens to increase the consumption of non-renewable natural resources, such as oil and coal.

The global biofuel market is worth approximately EUR 70 billion and it is estimated to grow by about 8 - 18% per year by 2020. Source: UPM

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Pictures: 1. UPM 2. StoraEnso 3. UPM 4. UPM

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Lively urban life

By 2030, an estimated 70% of the world’s population will live in cities, which will consume the majority of the world’s raw materials and energy. Urbanisation and the growing middle class have led to changes in consumption habits. Fast-paced daily life together with the mixing of work and private time have led to consumers looking for solutions that simplify everyday life. The world’s packaging markets are growing fast due to urbanisation, digitalisation and global online shopping. Aware consumers seek experiences, but do not want their choices to burden the environment.

In 2025, fresh packaging solutions meet the demands of new consumption habits and hectic daily routines. In addition to ecological factors, product safety, durability and lightness

are competitive considerations for packers and retailers. Packaging manufactured from wood fibre is produced energy

efficiently from renewable raw materials. This packaging does not contribute to waste mountains, as its recyclability is superior to that of other packaging materials. It brings added value and is an integral part of a brand as well as a factor that increases sales.

Smart features are used in packaging as they help keep food fresher for longer and thus reduce food waste. The transport, storage, movement and display of packaging can be realised in space- and cost-efficient ways. Numerous luxury products, everyday items, food, hygiene products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics are wrapped in paperboard packaging.

Next-generation textile fibresThe clothing industry has been looking for materials that can be manufactured from renewable raw materials. Finns have devel-oped many alternative wood-based fabrics, which can replace oil-based synthetic fibres and cotton, the production of which requires a great deal of water and arable land that could be used for food production.

Birch-based next generation textile fibre is introduced in the clothing industry. Different kinds of textiles are manufactured from dissolving pulp. The best-known are viscose, modal, rayon and lyocell. Cellulose fibrils can be woven into a strong thread, which has been developed into new types of fabrics.

Paper is still a popular material for high-quality magazines, which people read to find information, pleasure, and experiences as well as to take a break from everyday life. Different media creatively come together in advertising and product information solutions. Traditional paper and digital smart paper innovatively bring consumers and brands together in both paper and packaging products.

Pictures: 1 - 3. StoraEnso 4 - 5. Finnish Forest Industries Federation

The world’s packaging markets are growing fast due to urbanisation, digitalisation and global online shopping.

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Sustainable and successful bioeconomy

By 2025, Finland will have become a model country for the bioeconomy. Finland’s forests are its green gold – a renewable raw material that can be turned into many bioeconomy products, recyclable goods that tackle climate change and have billions of users every day. New technologies in the forest bioeconomy are strongly rooted in Finnish cleantech expertise.

The bioeconomy spawns new companies and jobs in the forest industry and numerous other sectors. New products and value-added solutions – entirely new business models – are developed. Natural resources are used intelligently and sustainably all the while saving resources.

Consumers want to make a difference with their choices. They favour products made from renewable raw materials and under-stand their significance in fighting climate change and the conser-vation of resources.

The lines between sectors are increasingly blurred. Corporate ecosystems, where growth-seeking SMEs complement the forest industry’s value chain, have evolved around major companies.

The forest industry and companies that operate in its value chain process products and manufacture raw materials for further processing. Society offers a development environment that speeds up the sector’s transformation.

The forest industry’s wood-based solutions and investments create jobs and prosperity for Finland. The bioeconomy takes sustainable development from Finland’s forests to other countries in the world that are keen to emulate the smart decisions made by Finland and its forest industry.

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Finland’s forests are its green gold – renewable raw material that can be turned into many bioeconomy products.

The bioeconomy spawns new companies and jobs in the forest industry and numerous other sectors. New products and value-added solutions – entirely new business models – are developed. Natural resources are used intelligently and sustainably all the while saving resources.

By 2025, Finland will have become a bioeconomy model country. The forest industry’s wood-based solutions and investments create jobs and prosperity for Finland. The bioeconomy takes sustainable development from Finland’s forests to other countries in the world, as Finland and its forest industry have made wise decisions.

Informed consumers want to make a difference with their choices. They favour products made from renewable raw materials and understand their significance in fighting climate change and in conserving resources.

The forest industry and companies that operate in its value chain process products and manufacture raw materials for further processing. Society offers a development environ-ment that speeds up the sector’s transformation.

More about the evolving forest industry:

www.forestindustries.fi

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blog www.lastuja.fi

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Forest industry 2025