​Mellanskog switches to climate-smart transportation with Green Cargo

The most efficient way to reduce climate impact from transportation is to transfer freight from the road network to the railways. In October, Mellanskog and Green Cargo entered a new partnership agreement under which woodchips will now be transported by rail instead of by road. This will result in safe, more efficient and more environmentally friendly shipments.

The forest plays a crucial role in switching over to a fossil-free society. Materials are extracted from forest raw materials that could replace the oil-based products of today. Mellanskog strives to continuously improve its environmental efforts, and this includes moving freight shipments to the railways.

“At Mellanskog, our operations are essentially climate-smart, we distribute renewable raw materials from local forest owners to industrial customers with a number of different specializations. We currently send large volumes by rail, and our ambition is to continually increase these volumes. This is for the environment, but it’s also to be able to offer our members the best overall deal possible,” says Ann-Britt Asplund, Head of Logistics at Mellanskog.

Shipments of woodchips from Mellanskog are transported between Forsbacka and Folkesta, where Green Cargo provides 22 SGS and SGNS wagons per block train loaded with three containers each. Each container holds 45 cubic meters of woodchips and weighs 14.5 tonnes. By moving woodchip shipments from roads to railways, Mellanskog reduces its climate impact by 39 tonnes of carbon dioxide every week.

“It is gratifying to bring in a new customer who is switching its operations over to more climate-smart transportation. This agreement structure favors customers like Mellanskog, who have seasonal deliveries,” says Green Cargo Sales Executive Johan Roswall.

This structure enables several forestry customers to purchase space on the same single-commodity train. The shipments run between the terminals and on the days specified by the customer, which yields increased flexibility.

Mellanskog is owned by 26,000 forest owners who have chosen to be members, but we also help other forest owners. We promote high and fair timber prices, and negotiate with the purchasing industries to obtain as favorable a price as possible. We sell our members’ timber, and the larger the volumes we handle are, the greater our influence. Mellanskog is environmentally certified pursuant to ISO 14001 and PEFC.