The €16.5m (£14.36m) spend at its Kirkniemi Mill in Finland involves state-of-the-art equipment for handling biofuel materials and follows the installation of a multi-fuel boiler in 2015.

The investment is part of Sappi Europe’s Decarbonisation Roadmap, which encompasses nearly 80 projects Sappi plans to undertake by 2025.

Kirkniemi is the biggest coated publication mill in the world. It runs three paper machines and has an annual capacity of 750,000 tons of high-quality coated mechanical Galerie papers, along with 300,000tpa of bleached mechanical pulp for its own use.

Sappi said the new biofuel setup would cut direct fossil greenhouse gas emissions by 90% – equivalent to a 230,000 ton reduction in carbon dioxide annually – and would reduce the carbon footprint of Galerie papers “at a stroke, by a massive 40%”.

Biomass residues including bark, sawdust and wood chips will fuel the mill’s operation, and will mostly be locally sourced. The capacity of Kirkniemi’s massive new silo is 8,000 cubic metres.

Sappi CEO Marco Eikelenboom commented: “The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is very timely and showcases our efforts to do better by our planet.

“We are happy to highlight the remarkable results of Sappi’s consistent investments at our Kirkniemi Mill over the past few years. These greatly enhance the sustainability credentials of this renowned, future-focused facility and the Galerie paper range that is produced here.”

The new facilities were officially inaugurated at the end of last month, with Finnish Minister for Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen in attendance.