(UPM, Helsinki, 23 May 2011 at 10.15 EET)  – UPM is one of the very first companies to achieve multinational corporate registration under the revised EMAS III regulation, the EU’s Environmental Management and Auditing Scheme. UPM’s corporate registration includes 15 pulp and paper mills in five EU countries and all data is third party verified.

The new corporate registration was a pilot project between UPM, EU, Finnish Environmental Institute SYKE and Inspecta Certification. The local auditing was carried out by EMAS auditors in Finland, France, Germany, UK and Austria.

“The pilot experience with UPM has been quite useful to help clarifying the reality of such a registration. It has certainly contributed to the development of the EMAS Guide. The Guide will soon become available for all international companies that will decide to follow UPM’s example and go for a corporate EMAS registration on EU level, or even on global level,” states Gilles Vincent, Deputy Head of Unit, Sustainable Production & Consumption, Directorate General Environment, EU.  

“The Finnish Environment Institute SYKE processed and approved UPM’s EMAS registration in good co-operation with the Competent Bodies of each country involved. Through this pilot registration exercise, SYKE gained useful experience in Competent Body registration processes,” says Senior Adviser Pirke Suoheimo from Finnish Environmental Institute.

“The pilot project took time but it was worth it. I believe that with this initiative UPM is able to help other international companies to take similar steps and to increase transparency of the companies’ environmental performance. Our new corporate EMAS registration demonstrates UPM’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” concludes Päivi Salpakivi-Salomaa, Vice President, Environmental Affairs.

The new UPM EMAS statement comprises a corporate part and a mill-supplement part. The corporate report includes group-level information and core indicators on e.g. energy and material efficiency. The mill supplement deepens the corporate report with local information such as environmental targets and accomplishments.

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 22,000 people and it has production plants in 16 countries. In 2010, UPM's sales amounted to EUR 8.9 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com

UPM´s Biofore strategy entails a long term commitment to environmental responsibility through the whole lifecycle of our products and operations. Our key areas in environmental responsibility are sustainable products, climate, water, forest and waste. The company is focusing on the continuous development of its performance, aiming towards achieving long term targets set for 2020. www.upm.com/responsibility