UPM Annual Report 2024

WE ARE UPM

GOVERNANCE

ACCOUNTS AND PERFORMANCE

Our strategy

Our businesses

Sustainability

Creating value for customers

TRANSPARENCY BRINGS ADDED VALUE TO CUSTOMERS

We provide environmental data and product declarations for most of our products. Most of our products are certified with widely recognised international and regional ecolabels such as the EU Ecolabel. UPM Biofuels has both ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS certification, and UPM Biochemicals and four UPM Raflatac factories have ISCC PLUS certification. All our businesses that use round wood or wood chips as raw material have FSC™ and/or PEFC Chain of Custody certification. This verifies the origin of the wood and guaran tees that all wood used in our products is legally harvested from sustainably managed forests and does not originate from controversial sources. We provide product safety profiles for paper, for example. We also provide environmental and compliance declarations for our products. UPM's non-use warranty provides information on chemical substances that are not used in our products. UPM’s Chemical Management Standard requires careful assessment and pre-approval of chemicals to ensure a minimal negative impact on human health, the environment and UPM’s prod ucts. The list of restricted chemicals includes substances of concern (SoC) and substances of very high concern (SVHC), which may have environmentally harmful or endocrine disrupt ing properties.

We offer sustainable material solutions to everyday products to customers and consumers.

OUR COMMITMENT We are committed to creating value for our customers, using sustainable, renewable raw materials. Our products help mitigate climate change by replacing fossil-based products and materials with renewable alternatives.

UPM’s businesses offer a wide range of products and services. We collaborate globally with well-established industries and innovative companies committed to pro moting sustainability. Our product portfolio enhances business through decarbonisation solutions, advanced materials, renewable fibres and communication papers – all based on sustainable, renewable feedstock. We provide products that improve our customers’ business processes and perfor mance, creating mutual benefit and societal value. Our innovative and sustainable wood-based biomedical products and our pharmaceutical and healthcare labelling solutions are examples of where we have a direct societal impact. Our wood-based biochemicals will provide renewable alternatives for many consumer products in packaging, automotive, textiles and various industrial segments. Several of our products are made from sidestreams and residues or from materials recovered after product use, supporting a circular bioeconomy. By listening to our customers’ motiva tions, goals and drivers, we can help them transform sustainability into tangible solu tions and products that respond to global trends and change consumer behaviour. Ul timately, we can enable consumers to make more sustainable choices. Continuous dialogue and collaboration Each business has its own customer rela tionship management process and way of interacting with customers. Our approach is based on a thorough understanding of each market, the end-uses of our products and our customers’ needs. We maintain a continuous dialogue with our customers and work with them on var ious product-related development projects. Our businesses conduct regular customer satisfaction surveys. These surveys also help us identify areas for improvement.

Based on the results, the overall satisfac tion with UPM as a supplier is 85% (85%). Ac tions to mitigate climate change and enhance biodiversity remain high priorities for our customers. Product safety, sustainable forest management, recyclability and management systems are also highly valued. It all starts with product design Consumers and customers around the world are focusing on sustainability. To offer a truly sustainable alternative, we consider all aspects of sustainability from the early stages of product development. Our approach to sustainable product design considers circularity throughout the product lifecycle. We address environmental and social impacts from material selection through production, use, reuse and recycling. The key tools we use in our concept are a self-developed tool to map the impact of products on the UN SDGs, Life Cycle Assess ment (LCA) and carbon footprint analysis. They are used to support decision-making and validate environmental claims for our products. LCA is used to calculate the potential environmental impacts of new raw materials or products. Other tools include biodegradability and recyclability testing. Our Sustainable Product Design concept supports product development in all UPM’s businesses, ensuring a sustainable product life cycle approach and alignment with the UN SDGs. Our concept ensures that every new product and service has a proven sus tainability value proposition. In addition, we introduced the first ever UPM Product Stewardship Standard in 2024. It aims to ensure that all our products pro duced and placed on the market anywhere in the world are safe for their intended use, compliant and sustainable throughout their lifecycle.

WE OFFER RENEWABLE AND RECYCLABLE PRODUCTS FOR

Packaging​

Labelling​

Certificate Finder

Transportation​

Electrification​

Construction​

CASE STUDY

MATERIAL GUIDES HELP MAKE SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL CHOICES

Communication ​

CHALLENGE How can we support brands and manufac turers in navigating a world full of material choices, sustainable value propositions and an ever-stricter regulatory environment? ACTION The UPM Packaging Material Guide, the UPM Fashion Raw Material Guide and the UPM Raflatac Packaging Recyclability Guide pro vide guidelines, definitions and criteria to help select the ideal material for specific end-uses. The aim is to provide more information about

materials that can replace fossil-based ones and minimise the carbon footprint. These guides are available in an easy to browse e-book format, answering questions such as: What is the material made of? What can it be used for? Which materials can it replace? How is it recycled? IMPACT Easy access to reliable fact-based information makes it simpler to make sustainable material choices that address global megatrends such as climate change and resource scarcity.

Tissue and hygiene end uses

Manufacturing​

Bioplastics​

Biomedicals

Sustainable forestry on page 50 Ensuring a sustainable supply chain on page 80

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UPM ANNUAL REPORT 2024

UPM ANNUAL REPORT 2024