CHALLENGES OF THE FORESTRY BUSINESS

The forestry industry has special environmental challenges, in that forests are managed both to produce wood and ensure environmental services such as the conservation of biodiversity, the protection of soil and watercourses, and the sequestration and storage of greenhouse gases. In the manufacture of wood products, the industry must take care that wood or fiber purchased from third parties comes from well-managed forests, that additional inputs to the manufacturing process do not have a negative impact on workers or users of the product, and that the impacts of noise or atmospheric emissions in factories are controlled for the sake of neighbors’ wellbeing.

Forestry has the potential to be one of the most sustainable industrial sectors. Well-managed forests produce many benefits other than wood, such as a habitat for many species of plants and animals. Manufacturing processes can use wood as fuel to generate energy, reducing consumption of fossil fuels and at the same time decreasing waste. Used as a construction material, wood generates relatively few residues and greenhouse gases in comparison to cement or steel. The excellent performance of wood from well-managed forests is recognized by leaders in “green construction” such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Standards.

The pages that follow describe how Masisa tackles its challenges, endeavoring to create environmental benefits at its sites. More details are provided about these and other environmental aspects of the company’s three divisions. A table at the end of the chapter summarizes information on each site with industrial operations (several different lines of production can operate in each one), natural resource consumption, atmospheric emissions and water effluents.


ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENTS

In 2004 Masisa made environmental investments amounting to US$3.3 million, and in 2005 they were close to US$3.5 million. The accumulated total since 2002 is US$11 million. These sums have involved investments in obtaining and maintaining environmental certifications, control of atmospheric emissions, water treatment systems and waste management. The most significant investment in 2005 was US$1.5 million in the Cabrero, Chile plant to re-circulate and treat water from the sawmill.

1 The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials www.corrim.org/reports/; The ATHENA Institute – Building Life Cycle Assessment: residential case study. Trusty & Meil 2001. www.athenasmi.ca/


ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

In terms of environmental management, Masisa’s priorities vary according to the production processes of its divisions. At the corporate level, however, the company has defined the following objectives:


OBJECTIVE 1

Comply with the requirements of local environmental legislation

As verified in the audits conducted during 2005, all of our operations comply with local legislation and in some cases go beyond what is required by law.


OBJECTIVE 2

Obtain the most stringent external Certifications

As of December 2005, all of our plantations were certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), except for those in Argentina, which will obtain certification in 2006. In addition, all of Masisa’s forestry and manufacturing operations are managed under ISO 14001 environmental management standards.


OBJECTIVE 3

Reduce the use of natural resources in our Factories

We make a special effort to improve eco-efficiency with respect to natural resource use and the generation of residues in our factories. Increasing eco-efficiency is part of Masisa’s business strategy and is included in the Sustainability Scorecard©.

In 2005 we succeeded in:

• Reducing energy consumption by 12%;
• Decreasing waste for fi nal disposal by 27%.
• Energy use rose 3% due to higher consumption in the solid wood division. Around two-thirds of the energy employed at Masisa comes from biomass and less than one-tenth from fossil fuels; the rest is electrical power, mainly hydroelectric.