Published in December 2025, the Environmental Product Declaration for uncoated WISA® birch plywood is based on updated source data and a third-party verified Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The update to the environmental declaration reflects developments in calculation methods and provides up-to-date and more accurate information on the environmental impact of the products.
The update to the EPD applies to the following uncoated WISA-Birch products: WISA®-Birch, WISA®-Birch LG, WISA®-Birch LG Special, WISA®-Birch Maxi, WISA®-Birch Premium and WISA®-Birch Special.
High-quality products for demanding applications
Uncoated WISA birch plywood is used in furniture and fixed furnishings, as well as for interior cladding, structures in the construction and automotive industries. According to Timo Lindroos, Product Manager for UPM Plywood's uncoated birch products, high technical and visual requirements are emphasized in different applications. Increasingly, the environmental impact of products plays a significant role in material choices.
"The main purpose of environmental declarations is to support our distributors, partners and end users in decision-making by providing verified, product-specific information. This is particularly emphasized in carbon footprint calculations in the construction industry," says Lindroos, who has also worked in the furniture industry.
Lindroos stresses the importance of product-specific data for customers: when calculations are based on actual production data, the results are more accurate than generic values, where the impact figures can be significantly higher.
What the EPD tells us – and why it matters
The environmental declarations for WISA plywood are third-party verified documents that describe the environmental performance of products from a life cycle perspective. The declarations have been prepared in accordance with standards and product group rules.
Among other things, the environmental declaration describes the impact of uncoated WISA birch plywood on climate change, i.e., the total amount of fossil emissions resulting from the sourcing of raw materials and the manufacturing of plywood, and what is the amount of biogenic carbon bound in them. In addition, the declaration contains information on other environmental impact categories, such as the impact of products on ozone depletion and the acidification and eutrophication of soil and water bodies.
The document covers the entire product life cycle, from the sourcing of raw materials and energy to the end of the product's service life and its potential for recycling and reuse. The environmental impacts reported for the product stages (A1–A3) are based on actual, researched data. For WISA plywood, the calculation includes raw materials such as wood, resins, and coatings, energy, transportation to the factory, and product manufacturing.
UPM Plywood's Environmental Manager Sanna Kontinen has a total of twenty years of experience in environmental management.
“We strive to provide up-to-date information in our reports as transparently as possible. As the calculations develop, customers receive continuously updated information on the environmental impact of our products,” Kontinen says.
The EPDs for WISA plywood are publicly available. The downloadable files are intended for customers to use as part of their design, comparison, and reporting processes. The environmental declarations are valid for five years or until they are updated.
Check the environmental product declarations
