Over the years, Horizon has demonstrated good corporate citizenship traits and made contributions to environmental and social well-being in its community. For its environmental projects, Horizon has met or exceeded the benchmarks set by Estonian Ministry of the Environment as well as those of all applicable EU regulations.
Here are some highlights of ESG activities at Horizon:
Horizon, in cooperation with Anija Municipality, carried out the following education projects in its community:-
- Training of educators on Verge Method (Norwegian method to prevent aggressive behaviour in children)
- Training of educators towards supporting children with special needs.
Horizon increases its resource efficiency and decreases waste disposal to landfill by recycling and reusing lime sludge waste in its production processes. Read more about this project.
With the support of IshK Tolaram Foundation, Horizon partners with NGO MTÜ Alustavat Õpetajat Toetav Kool to launch an initative which provides training support for beggining teachers in Anija region.
Horizon outperforms EU 2020 Climate & Energy Targets with a reduction of 80% GHG Emissions, 80% renewable energy share of total energy consumed in production and 21% improvement in energy efficiency.
During the COVID lockdown, homeless people were a vulnerable group which was affected. Food and other essentials were provided in collaboration with Estonian Food Bank (Eesti Toidupank) and Mother Theresa Missionaries of Charity to the homeless.
Horizon initiates teaching study modules at Kehra School for final year students, introducing them to natural science topics such as environment protection, sustainability and technology. Experienced Horizon personnel conduct lectures on these topics at the school.
Horizon actively re-engineers its processes towards water conservation and invests in scrubber technology.
Horizon increases its renewable energy share of total energy consumed in production by 80% with investment in a Combined Heat & Power (CHP) plant generating renewable energy.
Horizon becomes the main sponsor of Kehra Day, an annual event held by the Kehra community.
A lime kiln system is installed which recycles over 90% of lime used in production process and decreases use of natural resource lime. Part of the total investment was awarded by Environmental Investments Centre in Estonia. The system was inaugurated by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves (pictured above).
Cooking plant with high efficiency is installed. It reduces environmental impact by improving waste recovery.
Handball team of Kehra community, HC Kehra/Horizon Pulp & Paper, would go on to win Estonian cup multiple times and compete in European handball tournaments. It is the most successful Estonian team in the Baltic Handball League.
A Concentrated Noncondensible Gas Collection and Incineration System (CNCG System) is installed. It collects, transfers and incinerates gases such as hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide and disulfide. These gases are burned into harmless and non-objectionable gases.
A sludge press for liquid waste disposal is installed which creates opportunity to compost sewage sludge.
Horizon applies circular economy principles and installs an additional boiler powered by bark and wood waste from the processing plant. Thus, utilizing waste to reduce solid waste disposal.
Three projects were carried out in 2001 to improve air quality:
- Recovery Boiler installation which dramatically improved air quality.
- Electrostatic Precipitator installation which reduced dust emission to negligible level.
- Installation of a liquor concentrator.
A Return Effluent system is installed to help in keeping the Northern Estonian river of Jägala clean.