Eco-statement
We are committed to environmentally sound peat production
- Sound environmental management practices
- Control of total resources
- Careful after-use of production site
Total resources
Approximately a third of Finland and a quarter of Estonian land surface is covered by peat land. According to recent calculations in Finland the total amount of peat harvested is less than the annual growth of peat in the bog. Horticultural peat production amounts to less than 10 % of the total Finnish peat production. Peat production covers 0.5-1 % of the total peat land area in both Finland and Estonia. The total peat production area in Finland is approximately 47 000 ha and approximately 8600 ha (2002) in Estonia.
Both countries are advanced in mire conservation. ‘The Sustainable Development Act’ establishes a controlled peat extraction amount for each county. In Estonia resources are divided into sites of scientific interest and by economical function.
Locally or globally rare bog types are saved in Finland – permission practice secures saving sensitive sites. It is estimated that including national, regional and local decisions, at least 1.2 million hectares, or over 13% of Finland’s total mire area, has been protected from economic activities. In Estonia the same number is 16%.
Sound environmental management practices
Our business is guided by ISO quality and environmental standards. In Finland Kekkilä has a certified process-based quality management system according to ISO 9001 and environmental management system according to ISO 14001. We follow an environmental policy in all of our units. Our sustainable production works towards minimum waste amounts and utilizes the best available technology and practices.
During production special attention is paid to drainage water treatment, control of dust emissions and noise limitation. Before taking a new area into production a large amount of evaluations related to natural values and technical issues are carried out.
In Finland peat production requires a permit and our production processes are naturally evaluated by environmental authorities. Local people and organizations are invited to participate in permission processes. Estonian peat production is controlled by regulating authorities.
After-use of production areas
Different after-use possibilities are for example re-forestation, agriculture, horticulture, crop production, mire regeneration, the establishment of bird sanctuaries, reservoirs and grazing areas.
All our production sites will be managed after peat production. We follow our after-use policy and after-use planning principles. We take into consideration the local ecology, economical needs and mineral subsoil quality amongst other things. At the moment our most common after-use type is re-forestation, but the shares of mire regeneration and agriculture are about to increase.
