AvestaPolarit currently transports around 1.1 million tonnes per year with Green Cargo. The main material flow is the Steel Bridge, which uses specially designed carriages to link the production facilities in Avesta and Degerfors with the plant in Sheffield in the UK. A new concept introduced this year is the TAIM-Train service, which, by operating several trains a week, provides a link between the production of steel slabs at the Tornio plant in Finland with the rolling mill in Avesta. The Nyby facility has also been incorporated into the logistics system, which also covers the transport of steel products to Swedish ports for export.

Green Cargo has calculated the total environmental impact of AvestaPolarit's freight transports in terms of energy consumption and emissions from a life cycle perspective.

"AvestaPolarit has been a true forerunner in its efforts to develop modern, sustainable logistics systems and the company has met the criteria set by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation for good environmental transports by a comfortable margin," said Green Cargo's CEO, Jan Sundling, when he presented the certificate.
 
 AvestaPolarit's site manager in Avesta, Ulf Öhnfeldt, commented that transports which combine efficiency with reliability and a good environmental performance create sustainable solutions:
 
 "We are naturally very proud to have received this confirmation of our environmental performance in our freight transports, but the main reason we have increased our transportation of steel slabs and rolled products with Green Cargo is the combination of financial, quality and environmental aspects that they offer," said Ulf Öhnfeldt, site manager at the Avesta Works.
 
 Ulf Öhnfeldt and Jan Sundling stressed that the efforts undertaken by AvestaPolarit and Green Cargo to develop new transport solutions will alone not suffice. Investments in the infrastructure are also needed to promote the development of sustainable freight transport solutions, particularly along the Haparanda - Avesta route:
 
 "Politicians are currently discussing future investments in the infrastructure and we must be able to operate longer and heavier freight trains on lines that offer good accessibility throughout Sweden. "A greater understanding of the significance of freight transports is needed to ensure both our general welfare and our living environment," said Jan Sundling and Ulf Öhnfeldt.
 
For further information, please contact:
Mats Hollander, public relations officer, Green Cargo, tel. +46 (0)70 762 46 14.
Gunnar Ruist, manager, environmental affairs, AvestaPolarit, tel. +46 (0)70 543 58 69
Erica Åkerström, manager, environmental affairs, Green Cargo, tel. +46 (0)70 762 38 19.
Tim Sihvonen, manager logistics, AvestaPolarit, tel. +46 (0)730 585 201

For more photographic material, please contact Hannele Öbrink at hannele.obrink@avestapolarit.com

http://www.greencargo.com/
http://www.avestapolarit.com/

Ulf Öhnfeldt and Jan Sundling