UPM Specialty Papers invests US$11M to upgrade Finnish Tervasaari mill

FINLAND – UPM Specialty Papers has announced a €10 million (US$11.3m) investment to modernize its Tervasaari mill in Valkeakoski, Finland, aiming to boost production capacity and enhance operational efficiency.

The upgrade project includes a comprehensive rebuild of the mill’s paper machine drying section and a modernization of the associated steam system.

Scheduled for completion by the end of 2026, the investment is expected to improve the stability and performance of specialty paper production, particularly for glassine and flexible packaging grades.

“UPM Specialty Papers has over 40 years of experience producing highly demanding specialty papers,” said Tomi Lonka, Senior Vice President of Global Specialty Papers at UPM.

“This investment underscores our commitment to serving customers in the label, tape, and industrial value chains, as well as the flexible packaging sector.”

This latest investment builds on a previous €20 million commitment in recent years aimed at improving the mill’s energy efficiency.

A key milestone was the installation of a new electric boiler in April 2023, enabling the facility to shift from fossil fuels to electricity for heat and steam production.

The move is part of UPM’s broader sustainability strategy to reduce CO₂ emissions from fuels and purchased electricity by 65% by 2030.

In Finland alone, the transition to electric boilers is expected to cut annual CO₂ emissions by approximately 50,000 tonnes.

With an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes, the Tervasaari mill produces a wide range of specialty papers, including glassines used in labels and industrial applications, as well as fibre-based flexible packaging papers such as barrier, barrier base, and C1S grades.

In March 2025, UPM’s packaging papers achieved recyclability certification, meeting rigorous standards set by both the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) and the Western Michigan University (WMU) testing protocols.

According to CEPI Scorecard version 2.0 (January 2025), UPM’s barrier papers—including UPM Asendo, UPM Asendo Pro, UPM Confidio, and UPM Confidio Pro—are deemed technically recyclable using conventional recycling mill processes.

The company also confirmed recyclability certification for barrier base papers, such as UPM Prego and UPM Solide Lucent, as well as C1S packaging papers, including UPM UniquePack, UPM UniquePack Strong, and UPM FlexPack.

The CEPI testing method simulates key industrial recycling stages and aligns with the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which mandates all packaging to be recyclable by 2030.

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