purchasing of wood Wood raw material purchases for Billerud’s mills are bound by the company’s rules on environmental responsibility. Customers: When purchasing standing forest, Billerud sells the sawtimber to sawmills.	pulp Development, manufacture and sale of primary fibre-based, long-fibre pulp, Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK). Customers: Producers of tissue, board, packaging paper, writing and printing paper, and speciality products.	PACKAGING PAPER Development, manufacture and sale of primary fibrebased packaging paper; such as technical kraft paper, liquid board, sack paper and containerboard. Customers: Producers of packaging, sacks, paper carrier bags, corrugated board boxes, portion-packed drinks. End-customers and brand owners.	PACKAGING DEVELOPMENT Development and sale of packaging-optimising services and solutions, with a focus on material choice, function, design and sustainability. Customers: Producers of packaging, sacks, paper carrier bags, corrugated board boxes, portion-packed drinks. End-customers and brand owners. Wholesalers and distributors of fruit and vegetables.

FULL CONTROL OVER PRODUCTION
ENSURES HIGH QUALITY

Billerud’s packaging paper and pulp are made from the strongest fibre around – 100% primary fibre from slow-growing Nordic forests. All the products provide premium quality, which is maintained in part due to Billerud’s complete control over the whole production process.

Billerud’s pulp is used primarily in the company’s own paper manufacturing. The surplus pulp that Billerud does not use is sold mainly to manufacturers of tissue, printing paper and writing paper. Billerud has a broad product range comprising advanced technical kraft paper, sack paper, liquid board and containerboard. On top of this are all the value-adding services and solutions that meet customer demand for optimised packaging.

quality-assured purchases

To ensure the purity of the paper, Billerud carefully checks both chemicals and raw materials, with wood raw materials being the largest input. Billerud does not own any forest of its own; instead it buys all its wood raw materials on the timber market. Billerud Skog is responsible for the procurement of the fibre and biofuel for Billerud’s mills and for ensuring that the company’s guidelines on environmental responsibility are adhered to. Approximately 42% of the total volume purchased comes from FSC and/or PEFCcertified suppliers. The remainder meets the criteria for FSC Controlled Wood.

Billerud’s purchasing of chemicals is coordinated as far as possible among the Swedish mills. The company’s chemical suppliers and the chemicals themselves meet all applicable legal and environmental requirements. All the chemicals are checked before use and on an ongoing basis in terms of environmental risks, health and safety and product safety, with a view to constantly reducing environmental impact and cost.

Five suppliers, which account for 7% of Billerud’s purchasing volume, have during 2010 been audited from a sustainability perspective.

Integrated and efficient production

Production takes place at the Group’s four mills: Gruvön, Skärblacka and Karlsborg in Sweden and Beetham in the UK. All the mills maintain an extremely high standard of technology, productivity and environmental awareness. They have ISO 9001 quality certification and ISO 14001 environmental certification.

The three Swedish mills are integrated, which means that they combine both pulp and paper production. Integrated mills have several advantages:

• High product quality: Full control over the production process is important in ensuring high product quality.
• High level of self-sufficiency in electricity: Surplus energy from the pulp production is used in the paper manufacturing process.
• Reduced energy consumption: The pulp can immediately be used in the production of paper, which saves energy.

Billerud works constantly to improve process efficiency in order to secure long-term competitiveness. Several efficiency programmes have been implemented since 2005, resulting in cost savings of SEK 750 million. These savings break down into a reduction in employee numbers (SEK 350 million), reduced consumption of inputs such as chemicals, energy and wood (SEK 150 million) and a rise in electricity self-sufficiency from 30% to 60% (SEK 250 million).

Sustainable quality development, teamed with efficient production and logistics, enables Billerud to offer customers the best products and solutions.

Customer-focused organisation

In order to concentrate leading expertise and create proximity to customers and the market, the company’s operations are organised into three business areas: Packaging & Speciality Paper and Packaging Boards are responsible for sales of the Group’s packaging paper, while Market Pulp is responsible for sales of Billerud’s pulp. The business areas are responsible for developing a sales culture within Billerud and thus creating a sharp focus on customers and profitability.

Billerud’s business areas are divided into customer segments with direct responsibility for developing products and services, technical services, sales planning and pricing. The segment teams are responsible for developing know-how about the requirements of customers and end-users throughout the value chain in order to supply them, over time, with the most comprehensive and sustainable packaging solutions.