Sustainability Report 2011

Sustainability Report 2011

Report facts REPORTING PERIOD BOUNDARY OF THE REPORT FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS 1.1. 31.12.2011 The first stand-alone Sustainability report for 2010 was published in April 2011. Data is reported for each plant according to the length of time it has been part of the Ahlstrom Group. This Sustainability report has been prepared with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative 3.1 guidelines to the level B. sustainability@ahlstrom.com

Company facts PRESIDENT & CEO BUSINESS CUSTOMERS HEADQUARTERS MANUFACTURING PLANTS SALES OFFICES EMPLOYEES NET SALES LISTED FOUNDED Jan Lång Ahlstrom is a high performance materials company, partnering with leading businesses around the world to help them stay ahead. Well-known global companies Helsinki, Finland 33 plants in 14 countries (as of 31.12.2011) 32 in 28 countries 5,185 employees in 28 countries on six continents EUR 1.6 billion in 2011 (continuing operations) on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki since 2006 in 1851 You can find out more about us at www.ahlstrom.com.

Contents 1 Who we are 24 People and culture 2 Key figures and targets 3 Business areas 4 CEO s message 5 2011 Highlights 6 Governance and management 7 Where do we operate in the world? 8 Core purpose, Vision, Values, Brand promise 9 Our sustainability framework 10 Interacting with our stakeholders 12 Materiality assessment 14 Our products with purpose 20 Sustainability in product design 26 Ahlstrom as an employer 28 One Ahlstrom 30 Health and safety 32 Community impacts 33 Code of Conduct and human rights 34 Supply chain 36 Responsible sourcing 38 Environmental management in manufacturing 44 Appendix 1 Renewed Code of Conduct 46 Appendix 2 Adherence to GRI3.1 47 Appendix 3 Adherence to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact 48 Our history of corporate responsibility

Who we are Ahlstrom is a high performance materials company, partnering with leading businesses around the world to help them stay ahead. We make products that people use every day, both in the home and industry. We have a leading market position in all four of our business areas, Building and Energy, Filtration, Food and Medical, and Label and Processing. 1

Key figures and targets Key financial figures Our sustainability performance and targets EUR million 2011* 2010 * Change, % 2009 Net sales 1,607.2 1,636.3-1.8 1,596.1 Operating profit / loss 20.1 46.5-56.7-14.6 Operating profit excluding non-recurring items 49.7 66.8-25.6 39.8 % of net sales 3.1 4.1 2.5 Profit / loss before taxes -6.6 18.8-40.1 Profit / loss for the period -12.2 10.9-32.9 Earnings per share, EUR -0.38 0.11-0.72 Return on capital employed, % 2.0 5.2-1.1 Capital expenditure excluding acquisitions* 66.4** 47.2 ** 40.6 63.8 Gearing ratio, % 38.2** 46.9 ** 57.7 Net cash from operative activities 83.7 167.5-50.0 209.6 Dividend per share, EUR 1.30*** 0.88 47.7 0.55 *Continuing operations **Including discontinued operations ***The Board of Directors proposal to the Annual General Meeting. Consisting of a dividend of EUR 0.87 per share and an extra dividend of EUR 0.43 per share. SOCIAL PERFORMANCE IN 2011 TARGETS FOR 2012 Achieve Zero Lost Time Accidents, Accident Frequency Rate 0 51 LTA's, AFR 5.11 17 LTA s, AFR 1.98 Complete compliance training for all key white-collar personnel 456 employees 100% Complete Code of Conduct training for all white-collar employees N/A 100% Human Potential Index 59 62 Goal and development discussion for all employees 72% 100% Employee turnover 4.2% 5% Key strategic development program completion for targeted employees 33 employees 50 employees ENVIRONMENTAL Achieve zero waste to landfill by 2015 14.6 kg/t 13.5 kg/t Reduce water intake by 5% in 5 years 42.8 m3/t 43.1 m3/t Cut electricity usage by 5% in 5 years 1.037 MWh/T 1.000 MWh/T Cut fuel energy usage by 5% in 5 years 10.37 GJ/T 11.59 GJ/T Cut CO 2 emissions by 10% in 5 years 553 kg/t 565 kg/t Have 100% of production capacity ISO 14001 certified 98% 99% ECONOMIC Our target is to achieve at least 13% Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), which for 2011 was only 2%. 2

Business areas Net sales by business area Operating profit by business area Building and Energy 18% Filtration 20% Food and Medical 21% Label and Processing 41% Building and Energy 3% Filtration 45% Food and Medical 24% Label and Processing 28% Building and Energy Filtration Food and Medical Label and Processing is one of the leading players globally for materials used in wallcoverings, floorings and windmill blades. It has plants in Belgium, China, Finland, France, Russia and Sweden. is the global leader in transportation filtration materials. It has plants in Brazil, China, Finland, Italy, Spain, South Korea and the U.S. is one of the leading players globally for materials used in teabags, food packaging, masking tape and medical gowns and drapes. It has plants in China, Finland, France, India, the U.K. and the U.S. is one of the largest suppliers of specialty papers globally. It has plants in Brazil, France, Germany and Italy. Strategic priorities Strategic priorities Strategic priorities Strategic priorities To strengthen wallcovering material presence particularly in Asia and expand the differentiated offering. To strengthen position in cushionvinyl flooring materials globally. To align supply platform for reinforcements materials for wind energy and marine industries to global trends. To grow next generation applications and invest in global supply platform in transportation filtration. To grow substantially and establish global presence in air, water and life science materials. To expand the range of sustainable products and strengthen global presence in food applications. To expand the differentiated product offering and strengthen global platform in medical applications. To focus on cost effective materials with sustainable features. To grow release liners globally. Customers Customers Customers Customers construction, energy, fabric, marine and transportation industries automotive, water, energy, healthcare and food industries food, beverage, medical, healthcare and construction industries labeling, food and industrial packaging, graphics, cosmetics and pharmaceutical packaging, printing, furniture and construction industries 3

CEO s message We believe our role, as a business, is to offer our customers products that make a positive contribution to their own sustainability performance, while achieving improvements in our own. This ambition is at the heart of everything we do, from our management of resources to our membership of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, to our investment in new environmentally-friendly products. As the world s population rises and concentrates increasingly in cities, we see significant opportunities to contribute to a more sustainable future. We can do this by developing products that help the world save resources, and make everyday life easier, healthier, and greener, from air filters, to components for wind turbines, to specialized medical fabrics. Our recent acquisition of 49 percent of Porous Power Technologies, a US company developing separators to lithium batteries used in electric cars, is another excellent example. Unlike many companies of our size, we already use a significant proportion of renewable raw materials 87 percent in 2011 and this continues to rise as we apply our expert knowledge to make more and more products from renewable fibers. Our challenges as a business relate to the fact that ours is a resource-intensive industry, and those resources are becoming scarcer, and competition for them more intense. Our response is to become more efficient in our use of those resources every year, and to continually look for new ways to consume less energy, use less water, and produce 4

2011 Highlights We created a new vision Inspiring people, passionate about new ideas, growing with our customers. page 8 less waste and help our customers do the same. We have important initiatives underway in all of these areas, including a plan to reduce our waste to landfill to zero by 2015. There are more details on all of these initiatives later in this report. In other ways we are similar to all other major businesses across the world, as we face the challenges of difficult economic conditions, volatile and rising commodity prices, changes in environmental regulation, and the risks as well as the opportunities of expanding our business into emerging markets. I am confident that we will address these issues as well as the specific challenges of sustainability in the same spirit that Ahlstrom has demonstrated since it was founded in 1851. We have always been a responsible company, and one that has adapted successfully to change, and these principles are made explicit both in our updated Code of Conduct, which we launched this year, and in our values, which are Acting responsibly, Creating value, and Learning and renewing. These values have helped Ahlstrom become the internationally successful company it is today, and they will help us meet the sustainability challenges of tomorrow. renewed our Code of Conduct. We believe that our business dealings should not harm people, the environment or society at large. page 33, 44 45 joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Forest Products Industry working group. page 11 developed our own Life Cycle Assessment expertise at our Research Center. page 22 23 reduced our waste generation by 3.9% over 24 months. page 38 reached zero waste to landfill from 9 plants. page 41 reached zero lost time accidents in 16 plants. page 30 Jan Lång President and CEO modernized our training program portfolio. page 27 made a large donation to advance human rights in India. page 33 5

Governance and management Ahlstrom Group s Governance Statement 2011 is included in the Annual Report. Our sustainability and Health, Safety, Environment and Asset management (HSEA) governance and management practices ensure that we integrate environmental and social responsibility into our daily operations. We employ several tools to do this, such as our group-wide policies and processes, sustainability targets and KPI s, environmental management systems with third party assurance, internal audits, common sustainability measurement system and reporting. Our Sustainability function is tasked with the development and implementation of our activities in this area. It is led by the VP, Sustainability, and VP, HSEA, who report to the EVP Sustainability and Human Resources reporting to the CEO. Ahlstrom s Executive Management Team (EMT) is responsible for all policy issues related to sustainability. In 2011, we decided to strengthen the organization and move to a regional HSEA structure, with dedicated persons responsible for Europe, the Americas as well as Asian countries. Everyday sustainability issues are handled by the Group Sustainability function together with the Supply Chain and business areas, who are responsible for the operational management of their sustainability issues. The Group function convenes regularly with the business areas to monitor performance and implement actions. Every manufacturing plant has an identified person responsible for health, safety and environmental matters. Likewise, plants with a Chain-of-Custody certificate each have a person responsible for forest certifications. Matters of social responsibility fall under the remit of plant management together with Human Resources function, who work together to ensure that each plant has the strong culture and leadership which are necessary to achieve high standards of safety and well-being. 6

Where do we operate in the world? 7 4 1,048 205,752 136,120 23% 20 11 3,324 563,918 700,629 53% MANUFACTURING Plants AS OF 31.12.2011 SALES OFFICES EMPLOYEES PER CONTINENT* TONS PURCHASED PER CONTINENT TONS OF PRODUCTION PER CONTINENT % of sales in euro per continent We sell our products across the world with just over half our sales in Europe. We source much of our Eucalyptus pulp in South America. Compared to 2010, we had fewer manufacturing plants in Europe and the Americas in 2011, after the sale of the Home and Personal business. We increased our manufacturing volumes in Asia by 17 percent compared to 2010 and opened two new sales offices there. A new plant opened in Binzhou, China, which will produce glassfiber reinforcements for wind turbine blade manufacturers. 2 2 350 388,872 112,491 11% 4 15 463 69,869 33,809 13% * Europe, North and South America, Asia-Pacific and rest of the world 7

Core purpose Ahlstrom is a high performance materials company, partnering with leading businesses around the world to help them stay ahead. Vision Values Brand promise Stay ahead Inspiring people Passionate about new ideas Growing with customers Act responsibly Create value Learn and renew Performance Improvement Certainty Simplicity 8

Our sustainability framework We want Ahlstrom to be a successful and sustainable business, not just economically, but socially and environmentally. Everything we do is underpinned by this belief, from the way we manage our supply chain, to the way we manage our workplaces. We put this into practice by organizing our sustainability efforts in the same way as we organize our business. And right across Ahlstrom you ll find the same commitment to safety and human rights, and a shared ambition to be a leader in sustainability in our sector. Product development It all starts with product development. We make products that are designed to be useful, but thanks to the high proportion of renewable raw materials we use they are also sustainable. The product development process is particularly significant in this respect, because as much as 80 percent of a product s environmental impacts are determined in the design phase. Responsible sourcing Sourcing is an important area for us, given the nature of our products. In 2011 87 percent of our fiber raw materials came from renewable sources, and all our wood fiber suppliers have third party certification for their forests. Manufacturing Our manufacturing operations are always striving to be more efficient. It s all about doing more with less, and saving both money and resources. At the same time we want to minimize our emissions to air, water and soil. Sales and marketing We are good stewards of the products we make, and pride ourselves on building long-term relationships with our customers. They face many of the same sustainability challenges that we do, and we can help them meet these challenges by providing more sustainable products, and sharing our own expertise. Economic, social and environmental FOCUS AREAS in Ahlstrom s value chain: Product development Responsible sourcing Manufacturing Sales and Marketing Minimized environmental impacts of the products over their life cycle (LCA) Social impacts of products Certified fiber sources Supplier Code of Conduct Water use Waste minimization Resource efficiency Energy use Minimized emissions to air, water and soil Product stewardship Sustainable value propositions Helping customers to solve their sustainability challenges Safety in workplace, human rights, leadership and management practices 9

Interacting with our stakeholders STAKEHOLDER GROUP EXAMPLES OF DIALOGUE ASSESSMENTS Customers Employees Suppliers Shareholders and investors, analysts, media Academia Society: government, regulators, national and local authorities, communities Industry peers, competitors, business partners, NGO s, trade associations Face to face meetings and other contacts via the sales force, www.ahlstrom.com Joint product development projects Annual and Sustainability reports Daily contacts Performance management process Ahlstrom Academy training program Insite intranet Inside magazine Ahlstrom s European Dialogue Internal information meetings Local cooperation with unions and employee representatives Face to face meetings and other contacts via the Global Sourcing organization Joint seminars (e.g. Sustainability) Joint product development projects Joint cost reduction projects Annual General Meeting Annual Capital Markets Day www.ahlstrom.com Quarterly conference calls and webinars Annual and Sustainability reports Interim reports Stock exchange and press releases Road shows Face to face meetings Practical training and degree theses Research and development projects Recruitment fairs Student visits Local level cooperation with the authorities Open house events at production plants Public hearings Participation in trade associations, lobbying and joint projects in environmental matters Customer satisfaction surveys Feedback Employee surveys Pulse surveys Supplier surveys Media monitoring Bi-annual media visibility report Preferred employer surveys Employee feedback A company-wide employee survey was run for the second time in 2011 with the purpose of assessing the level of satisfaction, motivation and commitment of the whole Ahlstrom Group, and giving our people an opportunity to express their views and recommendations on ways to improve their own work and workplaces. The response rate was a very good 80.5 percent (74.3% in 2010) with 4,221 respondents in 17 languages and 27 countries. There was an improvement in all areas this year, as measured by a Human Potential Index, with the sole exception of Ahlstrom s image as an employer. This received some critical feedback. Employees appreciate being able to make their own decisions at work, and office workers felt stimulated and challenged in their work. Production workers felt most satisfied with the levels of cooperation within their teams. Work/life balance was felt to be one of Ahsltrom s strengths, and people also felt empowered to try new ideas, which is a positive reflection of our values. People are also satisfied with the amount of information they receive concerning their own work. A main area for improvement was team spirit. An important action is to activate goal and development discussions to cover everyone, as it seems to have a clear and positive connection with job motivation and engagement. Customer feedback Customer satisfaction is a strategic KPI for Ahlstrom. We conducted a customer survey measuring loyalty according to Net Promoter Index in 2011. We were not fully satisfied with the results and have put plans in place to make improvements. These include ways to make our customer service reflect our values, make it more predictable and reliable, and speed up our response times. The results were further analyzed by business and sales units for specific follow-up plans. We aim to repeat the survey twice per year. The results were further analyzed by business and sales units for specific follow-up plans. We aim to repeat the survey twice per year. Academia The nature of our business, and the specific sustainability challenges we face, make it vitally important for us to have close relationships with key universities, and specifically those close to our major plants. In Italy, we have collaborated with the University of Turin and in France with Centre Technique du Papier in Grenoble. In the United States we support North Carolina State University. A major grant was paid in 2010 and 2011 to Aalto University in Finland. Over the years, numerous students have completed their degrees by doing their diploma work or thesis at Ahlstrom. In 2011 we had 39 people working for their M.Sc. or Ph.D. degrees in our units. We also like to welcome student visits to our plants. 10

Memberships of associations World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) WBCSD is a coalition of international companies united by a shared commitment to sustainable development. Ahlstrom joined WBCSD in 2011 and became a member of its Sustainable Forest Products Industry working group. www.wbcsd.org Relationships with our stakeholders Society; government, regulators, national and local authorities Industry peers, competitors, business partners, NGO s, trade associations customers employees European Disposable and Nonwovens Association (EDANA) Ahlstrom is an active member of EDANA with a board chairmanship held by Jean-Marie Becker until 1.11.2011 when he became a Suominen executive due to the divestment of the Home and Personal business. Ahlstrom is also a member of the Board Working Group of Sustainability and participates in its Environmental Evaluation Committee and other business area specific committees. www.edana.org PaperImpact PaperImpact is the European Speciality Paper Manufacturers Association where Ahlstrom is a founding member. Ahlstrom is a member of its Board of Directors and leading the Public Affairs and Legislation Working Group. www.paperimpact.org academia Shareholders and investors, analysts, media suppliers National Industry Federations Ahlstrom has representatives on the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), Copacel (Confederation Francaise de l Industrie des Papiers), Assocarta in Italy and the German Pulp and Paper Association. LengTH of the relationship: shorter to longer Strength of The relationship: weaker to stronger Sector specific associations Ahlstrom is represented in various sector specific associations, both internationally and in local markets where it operates, e.g. American Filtration Society, FINAT (the world-wide association for manufacturers of self-adhesive labels and related products and services) and many others. 11

Materiality assessment Level of concern to stakeholders Low MEDIUM HIGH Support for employees affected by redundancies Supplier Code of Conduct Renewable raw materials Life Cycle Assessment Stakeholder engagement Community Human rights Certifications Product stewardship Reducing environmental impacts of customers with products Code of Conduct Health and safety Better and targeted sustainability information about products Megatrends creating new markets Cost savings through sustainability Availability and price of raw materials Open and transparent communication Employee attraction Efficiency of operations and minimizing emissions Integration of sustainability into business processes and product development Waste management Emerging market opportunities Well-being Raw material safety Sustainability training to employees Low MEDIUM HIGH Level of concern to AHLSTROM 12

Strategic sustainability priorities We commissioned PwC Helsinki to conduct a materiality assessment of the aspects of our business relevant to sustainability in 2011. They evaluated a stakeholder sustainability survey conducted in late 2010, a list of sustainability trends and issues raised by our competitors and peer group companies, and interviews with our executive management team, as well as our Sustainability Annual Plan for 2011. Those issues deemed to be material were ranked by the executive management team in a Sustainability workshop, which helped us set new and ambitious targets in these areas. As a result of the workshop, we decided that helping our customers to reduce the environmental impact of their own businesses with the help of our products is the highest priority for Ahlstrom. For example, our products help to save energy and waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean the air or water, and minimize the use of resources. We already have many products that do this (pages 14 19) and we are determined to develop more. We believe there are new markets and emerging opportunities for these products, all of which are indeed products with purpose. In general, our products are our best and most important sustainability asset. We want to be good stewards of them, ensuring that they are safe, and can be made, used, and disposed of with minimal environmental impacts. We also aim to provide our customers with sustainability information about our product ranges which is more transparent, and more targeted. Managing our resources as efficiently as possible and minimizing waste in all phases of the process is of strategic importance to Ahlstrom and paramount for the sustainability of any operation. Our decision to update our Code of Conduct in 2011, based on our company values, and implement a new Supplier Code of Conduct in 2012 is proof of the importance we attach to business ethics, both within Ahlstrom, and in our relationships with business partners. 13

Our products with purpose Our products are an integral part of the modern world. You may not always notice them, but they play a key role in industry, in the home, and in transport. On the following pages you will find examples of our products from wallcovering to wind turbines and water filters. We use 100 percent recycled polyester fibers in all our wallcoverings, which has reduced their cradle to gate environmental footprint by 10 percent. We re now looking for natural fibers to replace the synthetic ones wallcoverings like this are hung by pasting the wall first, so our challenge is to find a formulation that will maintain our products paste-the-wall performance. Glassfiber tissue has a whole range of uses, from laminate flooring to building panels. As this suggests, glassfiber tissue has to be both strong and reliable, but it also needs to be resistant to mold and moisture, to prevent weather damage and the spread of bacteria. We currently use synthetic binders in our products, but our Life Cycle Assessment work has encouraged us to look for renewable alternatives, which will significantly reduce their environmental impact. Our glassfiber reinforcements are used as surfacing materials for the blades of wind turbines. Wind power is one of the most significant and promising forms of renewable energy, and by 2008 had already saved close to 300 million tons of CO 2 emissions per year, and EUR 6.6 billion of fuel costs, according to the European Wind Energy Association. With the expansion of off-shore technology turbines will become even bigger and more efficient, and we re meeting this demand by developing new glassfiber reinforcements that can cope with these demanding conditions. 14

We ve developed a new fabric specially designed for teabag manufacturers. Ahlstrom BioWeb TM is made entirely from renewable raw materials, and its carbon footprint is at least 30 percent lower than other similar products. It uses almost no water during manufacture, and can be made into teabags at a lower temperature, which means our customers can save energy. Another one of our specialty products is called Cristal Evolution. It is made only from cellulose fibers sourced from responsibly managed forests. These fibers are fully recyclable and biodegrade in just a few weeks. Ahlstrom Cristal Evolution was the very first product that could be used to replace the plastic in envelope windows, which has made it possible to recycle over 3,000 tons of paper every year. Cristal Evolution is also ideal for bread bags it s light, thin, and allows the bread to breathe, and can also be printed on. We provide high performance Ahlstrom Genuine Vegetable Parchment molds for customers seeking an environmentallyfriendly solution to plastic or aluminium. Produced from renewable sources, parchment molds are 100 percent biodegradable and produce a significantly lower carbon footprint than alternatives like aluminium. 15

We have a range of poster papers for use on billboards and in open-air urban environments, which are all made of natural fibers from renewable and responsible sources. Outdoor posters are still one of the most effective forms of marketing in terms of return on investment, and we re helping to make this form of advertising more sustainable. One of our most important products is what is known as a release liner. These are the backing sheets used to supply the adhesive labels you see on thousands of consumer goods, from food and drink to car tyres. Liners like this are coated with silicone, which allows the sticky label to come away easily. We ve recently developed a new Ahlstrom Acti-V TM release liner which is far more sustainable than its competitors it s made from 100 percent renewable raw materials, and the silicone can be applied at a lower temperature, which saves energy. This silicone also contains as much as 60 percent less platinum than traditional alternatives. Our indicator papers are packed with surgical instruments, so that surgeons and nurses and see at once whether they have been properly sterilized, and be confident in using them. 16

Ahlstrom air filtration is trusted to create a cleanroom environment for hospital operating theatres. Our filters keep the air free from dust, bacteria, viruses and airborne microbes. We sell similar filters to other organizations that require ultra-clean air, such as electronics manufacturers. Ahlstrom specialty materials are also used for other medical and diagnostics applications. You can find them in home pregnancy kits, or in some of the testing materials used in hospitals. They re also used in the very sensitive process of screening newborn babies for lifethreatening hereditary and genetic conditions. A small amount of the baby s blood is spotted onto Ahlstrom paper and tested, which allows for early diagnosis and more effective preventative treatment. We have a full range of specialized medical fabrics which are used to create protective barriers that help prevent the spread of infection. They re used in surgical drapes, gowns and, sterilization barrier systems used in operating theatres. They are specifically designed to be disposable, because this requires fewer resources than laundering, sterilization, and re-packaging them for subsequent use. All of these products can be safely incinerated. 17

Filter products are an important product area for us, especially those used in cars, with as many as 50 percent of the world s automobiles using Ahlstrom filters. We now offer to the filter manufacturers for the automotive industry fast curing filter materials for use in vehicles. This process allows the materials to be turned into the required filter component at a lower temperature, which saves energy. These materials can also be used in flame retardant products which are more sustainable than other alternatives, because they do not involve the use of the potentially hazardous PBDEs (Polybrominated Di-phenyl Ethers). We re already selling our new fast-curing filter materials in Europe, Asia and South America. As air quality becomes an increasingly important health concern, we re developing more and more indoor air filtration products, designed to remove the damaging particulates and volatile organic molecules which may come in from outside, as well as the gases that can be produced from cleaning and cooking inside the building. 18

Our gas turbine filtration media help ensure that this vital machinery works at maximum efficiency, however challenging the environment. Optimizing the filtration process can increase power plant output by up to 20 percent and cut gas consumption by 10 percent, which also reduces CO 2 emissions. Our filter products are just as vital to consumers as they are to industry. Our milk filter media are used on farms to ensure that bacteria are kept under control. This helps maximize dairy production and protect the purity of the milk. Ahlstrom Disruptor is one of our advanced water filtration products. It produces clean and safe residential drinking water in gravityflow filter devices, without the need for chemicals or electricity. Ahlstrom Disruptor removes pesticides, trace pharmaceuticals, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. It can also be used at a municipal level to test water quality. 19

Our ambition is to incorporate the principles of sustainability and green chemistry into our product design. Dr. Paul Stenson, EVP, Product and Technology Development Sustainability in product design Ahlstrom s product development is run by a central group based at Pont-Evêque, France, and there is also a network of experts working within our four business areas Building and Energy, Filtration, Food and Medical, and Label and Processing. 20

Meeting customer demands for sustainable products Our 2012 target is to incorporate a Sustainability checklist into the process we follow for all our new product designs, and we also aim to extend our Life Cycle Assessment expertise to cover more of our strategic product ranges. A longer term ambition, but one where we are already making progress, is to adopt the principles of green chemistry into our new product development processes. Green chemistry Green chemistry is a whole new approach to product design, which aims to reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals from product development and manufacture. The key point is that this assessment occurs in the design phase, on the basis that it is better to prevent waste or harmful emissions than to deal with them later. There are twelve core principles of green chemistry, which range from pollution prevention, to energy efficiency, to the use of safer solvents. You can read more about this on the green chemistry website, http://www. warnerbabcock.com/green_chemistry/ A good practical example of how we are applying the green chemistry approach is the gradual removal of all hazardous raw materials from our existing products and manufacturing operations. Formaldehyde, for example, is a component in the synthetic binders we use to improve the strength of paper, nonwoven and glass-based products. As a result, traces of formaldehyde are found in the emissions from the drying ovens in our Filtration, and Building and Energy production plants, which require careful monitoring and ventilation. We have now started work to completely eliminate formaldehyde from our production processes. Saving energy Energy reduction is another priority for us, and there are numerous examples of progress in this area. We are, for instance, looking at treating our raw pulp with enzymes this natural process starts breaking the fibers down before they are refined, which means we will need less energy later. Our Filtration business is also introducing new fast curing materials for our key automotive filter customers. These materials can be turned into specific filter components more quickly and at a lower temperature, which saves our customers energy. New technologies We re always exploring ways of using new technology to make our products more effective and more sustainable. For example, we have now launched the innovative Ahlstrom Acti-V TM technology for the backing sheets that supply product labels. The technical name for these sheets is release liners, and they are coated with silicone to ensure that the adhesive label comes away easily. Our new process allows these liners to be coated with silicone at a lower temperature, and reduces the platinum content, without compromising the quality of the product. We have also developed a special Ahlstrom BioWeb TM fabric for teabag manufacturers. Its carbon footprint is at least 30 percent lower than similar products, it needs minimal water during manufacture, and it can be made into teabags at a lower temperature, allowing our customers to save energy. Meeting customer expectations Our customers expect us to deliver products that are sustainably sourced, and manufactured in a safe and reliable manner, without causing pollution to the environment. As much as 87 percent of our raw material fibers are already green, because they are sourced from renewable sources. The comparable figure for a petrochemicals based materials supplier would be around 20 percent. By applying the principles of green chemistry to our product design and manufacture we hope to further improve our performance, and demonstrate our ambition to be a leader in this field in our sector. 21

Material processing Raw material extraction Manufacturing End-of-life LIFE CYCLE Product use Conversion and packaging Assessing the Life Cycle impacts of our products From cradle to gate During 2011 we developed our own Life Cycle Assessment expertise so that we can assess the impact of our products from cradle to gate in other words, from raw materials to the moment the product leaves our factory. In some cases we can extend that analysis through to the product s use and final disposal, though clearly this is a harder task, as the data is more difficult to come by. Our Life Cycle Assessment evaluations take into account all the product s potential environmental impacts, from carbon emissions, to energy and water use. This assessment helps us make better decisions internally, but it is also invaluable externally, since more and more of our customers are now asking us about the environmental performance of our products. We ve carried out four Life Cycle studies so far, using the international ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards to assess our wallcoverings, release liners, glassfiber and vegetable parchment products. This work has concentrated on the products impacts to the point they leave the factory gate: we ve focused on this part of the cycle because this is where we can have the most influence. Eco-design approach Looking forwards, we aim to fully integrate our Life Cycle Assessment into the research and design stage of the development process, since it is known that up to 80 percent of a product s impacts are determined by the decisions made then. 22

Life Cycle impacts What we have learned so far is that the raw materials and energy we use have the greatest bearing on our products environmental impacts. As a result, we are endeavoring to use a higher proportion of renewable polymers, like poly-lactic acid (PLA), and recycled synthetic polymers, like polyethyleneterephtalate (rpet). We are also working on our energy efficiency. Contribution analysis of a wallcover product 8% 8% 16% 18% 23% 50% 1% 5% 44% 61% 66% Water eutrophication potential Air acidification potential Global warming potential Raw materials Energy Transportation of raw materials Water and waste treatment We studied the contribution of raw materials, energy, water and waste treatment as well as transportation of raw materials to the main environmental impacts of Ahlstrom wallcovering products. Energy is the main contributor to carbon footprint (global warming potential), while raw materials account for the biggest impacts on acid rain (air acidification potential) or harmful nutrients in water (water eutrophication potential). Vegetable parchment molds Our vegetable parchment molds are made of 98 percent renewable raw materials. We have compared their life cycle impacts to those of aluminium molds. In cradle to gate comparisons, Vegetable Parchment molds have half of the carbon footprint impacts. The performance of aluminium is more affected by the end-of-life phase if it is recycled it comes closer to parchment. Composting parchment does not, however, significantly lower its impacts compared to landfilling and incineration. Inbound freight Another useful piece of information relates to our logistics footprint. Our analysis has shown that the bulk shipping of wood pulp from South America to our European manufacturing plants is actually a relatively environmentallyefficient method of transportation. % 100 80 60 40 20 0 CED Nonrenewable CED Renewable CED TOT Global warming potential CED=Cumulative Energy Demand Water use Abiotic depletion Acidification Eutrophication Ozone layer depletion Photochemical oxidation Wallpaper with eucalyptus from South America Wallpaper with eucalyptus from Portugal 23

People and culture Common culture and global processes are key objectives of One Ahlstrom. 24

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Ahlstrom as an employer Inspiring people One of the three elements of our vision is inspiring people. This ambition extends from our own employees to our customers and business partners, and all our other stakeholders. We particularly want to inspire our own people empower them to succeed and encourage them to fulfill their potential. We want to be an employer of choice and an organization that never stops learning. There were 5,185 people working at Ahlstrom at the end of 2011, compared to 5,639 at the end of 2010. This reduction was largely due to the sale of the Home and Personal business to Suominen Corporation, and the profit improvement program. The employee turnover rate was 4.2, and 98 percent were in permanent positions, compared to 96 percent the year before. Diversity We have always believed that a more diverse business is a more creative business. We have employees in 28 countries, with 64 percent in Europe, 20 percent in North America and 8.5 percent in Asia. In 2011 our Board had one female director out of a total of seven. Three of the members were over 50 years old, and the other four were between 30 and 50. Two of the ten members of the Executive Management Team were female, and four executives were older than 50 years. Of the total workforce 23 percent were women, compared to 19 percent in 2010. There is a balance of ages across the whole Group. Dialogue We manage employee relations at a local level. Many of our employees are covered by local collective bargaining agreements. We held our annual Ahlstrom European Dialogue meeting on May 11, 2011 in Vantaa, Finland. This involved 18 representatives from 13 European plants. The meeting included a briefing from management on our financial results, and an update on the progress being made on our strategy, objectives and key projects. Each representative brought a list of questions to the meeting, which had been agreed by their colleagues beforehand. Meetings like this are one way for our people to give feedback, but we also run surveys across the whole company. In 2011 over 4,000 people took part to our employee survey, which was a response rate of over 80 percent. We analyze the results of this survey to calculate what is known as our Human Potential Index, HPI. The level of our HPI is a key performance indicator for us, and is one of the factors taken into account when determining managers bonuses. There s more on this survey on page 10. Performance management A good performance appraisal system is as important to the individual as it is to the company. It helps us ensure we have the skills we need to execute our strategy effectively, and identifies opportunities for personal and professional development for our staff. Since 2011, all our white-collar employees in Ahlstrom have been using the same performance management process. Headcount* by age Headcount* by educational level Headcount* by country 24% 3% 13% 3% 13% 23% 3% 13% 23% 27% 27% 34% 34% 33% 27% 2011 2010 2009 < 29 < 39 < 49 < 59 > 60 13% 13% 9% 7% 8% 11% 31% 35% 36% 50% 45% 42% 2011 2010 2009 Basic Professional B.Sc. M.Sc. Ph.D. 10% 20% 8% 11% 23% 7% 7% 12% 7% 9% 24% 7% 9% 8% 5% 9% 21% 13% 22% 10% 12% 11% 11% 24% 2011 2010 2009 USA France Italy Finland Asia Brazil Germany Others 26 *Employed 31.12.2011 *Employed 31.12.2011 *Employed 31.12.2011

Reflections from a new and old Jumpee Learning Learning and renewing is one of our core values, and in the last year we ve made a number of improvements to each of the three main components of our portfolio of training courses. The first of these is the Ahlstrom Academy, which is open to all employees, and where we have continued to focus on skills of strategic importance for us. We are also streamlining the training offered across the Group, to reinforce our aim of being One Ahlstrom wherever we are in the world. For example we gave the same Project Management training in 5 different countries to a total of 130 employees. Almost 1,000 employees took part in an Ahlstrom Academy course during the year, which is close to 50 percent of the whitecollar workforce. Key human resources figures The second element of our training program is leadership and management development. During 2011 the first two groups of senior managers graduated from our The Way Forward program, which aims to build knowledge in key strategic areas such as leading people and change, sales and marketing, supply chain, strategy, and business practices in Asia. We also extended the third element of our training: our leadership development and mentoring program for future leaders, which is called JUMP, and which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011. This is one of our most important programs, and has helped us identify and develop some of our most successful leaders. Here are some views from those who attended the program one from 2011, and one from 1995. 2011 2010 2009 Number of employees at year-end 5,185 5,639 5,841 Employee turnover rate 4.20% 4.00% na Share of women among all employees 23% 19% 18% Women in Executive Management Team 2 out of 10 2 out of 10 2 out of 12 Women in Board of Directors 1 out of 7 1 out of 6 0 out of 7 Arvind Purushothaman has worked for the Building and Energy business area since January 2009. He helps develop nextgeneration products like battery separators, wallcoverings, and protective packaging for the automotive, apparel, and home furnishing sectors, with a special emphasis on finding more sustainable products and supporting our automotive customers. He found it stimulating to work with such a diverse group of like-minded people on the program: The JUMP training was an eye-opener for me. Topics like coaching techniques, cross-cultural intelligence and leadership were really interesting and thought-provoking. Daniele Borlatto has worked for Ahlstrom since 1990, in a range of different roles including accounting, sales, and VP positions in Filtration, and is now EVP for the Label and Processing business area. He attended JUMP in 1995, at an early stage of his career, and still considers it one of the best training programs he s ever done, It s a unique opportunity to discover yourself in respect of your personal goals and working ambitions. 27

One Ahlstrom One of Ahlstrom s special qualities as a company is the mix of people who work here. We rejoice in the diversity of nationalities and backgrounds that come together in Ahlstrom, and we are united in our belief in the same values, and our commitment to the same goals. We re proud of the positive working environment we create at Ahlstrom we believe in working hard and achieving goals, but it s equally important to have a good balance between work and free time. These stories from around the world show how our people are working together to improve safety at work, team spirit, care for their communities, and make progress on sustainability. 28

Collaboration in Italy Teams at our plant at Turin have made some real progress on safety in the last year, as part of their ambition to achieve a zero accident rate. Some of the improvements relate to better processes, such as speeding-up the reporting of near-misses, but the greatest improvement has come from empowering individuals to take more responsibility themselves. As Diego Bianca, the Health and Safety Manager at the plant says, we have a new approach called PARS, which stands in Italian for think and act responsibly and safely. It means everyone ensuring that they have the right training for the job, and the task is safe to do. Act responsibly is, of course, one of Ahlstrom s values, and this is a great example of how much this can achieve in practice. The plant hasn t achieved a zero accident rate yet, but there have been real improvements thanks to the new spirit of collaboration across the whole plant. Teambuilding in China Whenever we open a new facility we always start by focusing on the sort of company we are, and the values we believe in. When we began operations at our Chinese plant in Binzhou, for example, we organized two workshops about our values, and a team-building event around our vision: inspiring people and passionate about new ideas. The workshops helped the teams to discover that nothing is impossible, that new ideas are the root of success, and that working together with the same values allows the whole team to achieve its goals. This training inspires us and gives us new ideas for innovation, as well as improving the efficiency in our work, said Wang Xinhai, Winder Operator at the plant. Supporting the local community in Brazil Our two plants at Jacareí and Louveira, in Brazil, are both working actively with charities for local children. Jacareí works with AME (Associação Morada da Esperança), which helps children living in poverty, and Louveira supports CIELO, an organisation for people with learning disabilities. Every Christmas a special tree is erected in the plants reception areas, and decorated with baubles bearing a wish from a local child. Our employees volunteer to choose a bauble and make the wish come true. We also hold a Christmas party for the children. As Cid Portugal, a shift supervisor at Jacareí and one of the organizers of the party says, It is a magical moment, and particularly so for him, since he was once a recipient of one of these gifts as a child. In November 2011 the local authority held a special event to mark Ahlstrom s contribution to the community, and encouraged other companies in the city to do the same. It is gratifying to know that our small gestures can help, said José Laércio Pereira, our HR Manager for Brazil. Committed to sustainable operations in India We opened our manufacturing facility in Mundra, India in May 2010. India is one of the world s fastest growing economies, and the competition for talented employees is becoming extremely fierce. We re proud to say that Ahlstrom has proved to be an employer of choice locally, with almost 75 percent of our employees university graduates, the highest in the whole company. The number of people studying for higher degrees in Mundra was also the company s highest at 10 in 2011. The plant produces single-use protective fabrics for the healthcare industry, and it also uses state-of-the-art technology to minimize its environmental impacts. Water, in particular, is a crucial issue in India, where the climate is so dry, and we have worked hard to ensure our plant is extremely efficient in its use of water for humidification, cooling and general housekeeping. The plant uses only 11,441 m 3 of water annually, but unlike most similar facilities, does not release any effluent back into the environment. We purify our waste water and channel it to a drip irrigation system to water the hundreds of trees that our employees have planted around the plant. The first of these were planted in February 2010 and now there are over 400 coconut trees, 100 sapota trees, as well as many local species. 29

Health and safety Health and safety is included in our overall Risk Management Policy, and our Group Standards and Guidelines, which reflect best practice as defined in the OHSAS (Occupation Health and Safety Assessment Series) 18000. All our plants and employees are covered by this, as well as anyone else who is directly affected by what we do, such as contractors and visitors to our plants. Plant inspections are carried out on a three-year cycle, and any resulting recommendations monitored via a web-based tracking system. We are also implementing OHSAS 18001 across all our plants, with 15 accredited so far. See table on page 42. We ve made significant progress on reducing workplace injuries at our manufacturing plants over the last ten years. The Accident Frequency Rate, or AFR, is defined as number of lost time accidents per million man hours. This was 39.08 in 2001, which equated to 373 lost time accidents, but by 2011 it had dropped to 5.11 a reduction of nearly 90 percent in ten years. Our target for 2012 is 1.98. Safety results are also linked to management compensation. In the long term our ambition is to have no workplace accidents at all, and we fully believe this is achievable. In fact 16 of our 38 plants did so in 2011. Our challenge now is to achieve this across the whole group, which will help us fulfill our ambition to be the leader in our industry in terms of employee safety. LTA AFR ASR 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 * kpl 20 15 10 5 0 07 08 09 10 kpl 11 12* kpl 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 07 08 09 10 kpl 11 12* *2012 target LTA = lost time accidents. Accidents that cause the absence of an employee from work for X number of days. *2012 target AFR = accident frequency rate. The accident frequency rate is calculated by dividing the number of accidents that result in absence, by the man hours worked, and multiplying by 1,000,000. *2012 target ASR = accident severity rate. The accident severity rate is calculated by dividing the number of days of absence, by the man hours worked, and multiplying by 1000. 30

Seven years without lost time accidents in Taylorville, USA In February 2012, our plant at Taylorville marked seven years without a single lost time accident. This has taken hard work by every employee, every day, and a complete dedication to continuous improvement. The whole plant is involved in safety training, safety audits, and the reporting and prevention of near misses. There are events at the plant to mark each new safety milestone, with families brought together to celebrate what s already been achieved, and to look forward to the next one. Ergonomic improvements at Madisonville, USA One of the key safety issues at our Madisonville plant is the scrap paper baler. Nearly all of the plant s paper waste is processed on plant using this baler, and then sent to be recycled into insulation material. There were no accidents during 2010 or 2011, but over 650 nearmisses, which led to a number of changes to working processes to improve safety. The team began by carrying out a standard hazard assessment, and gathering input from each of the operators working on the baler. The most important recommendations that emerged related to changes in the way materials were handled and lifted, which reduced the likelihood of strains and injuries. Ergonomic changes like this can make a significant difference to employees well-being at work. Progress on health and safety in Brignoud, France The experience of our plant in Brignoud, South-East France, proves what a difference it can make to have a full-time health and safety expert on plant. Sebastien Jaffrezic was first appointed in 2008, when the plant s track record was good, but there was still plenty of room for improvement. Having a dedicated professional overseeing procedures and assessing potential hazards resulted in noticeable progress in a short space of time. The key here was a shift in mindset from seeing safety as a chore or even a disciplinary matter, to one where its importance is integral to the plant s operating culture, and everyone on-site understands the contribution it makes to effective working, and high-quality production. In the three years since 2008, the lost-time accident rate at the plant has fallen to zero, but no-one sees this as cause for complacency. As Jean-Guy Durand, Plant Manager says, We have done well, but our intention is to be world class, and there is some way to go to reach that, but we are confident our team can get there. 31

Community impacts Wherever we do business, we have an impact on the world around us, whether on the local community, the local economy, or the natural environment. We want to make our presence as positive as possible, by making a constructive economic and social contribution and by minimizing any negative impacts. Our operations often play a major role in their local communities, especially when they are located in fairly rural areas, where they are major employers and tax-payers, and important business partners for local firms. Every plant is encouraged to invest in their communities and support local causes. At a group level, the Annual Meeting authorizes significant charitable contributions, such as the EUR 250,000 paid to the Aalto University in Finland in 2010 and 2011, and the EUR 120,000 donated to the Eva Ahlström Foundation in 2011. We do not make political donations. Focusing our strategy Among the strategic decisions about the future direction of our business made last year, one was to stop the glass fiber manufacturing in our plant in Karhula, and make efficiency savings across a number of other plants as part of a company-wide profit improvement program. The latter was necessary because we want our business to be sustainable not only environmentally, but also economically. To do that, we have to ensure that we are profitable, both now and in the future, and in some circumstances this can mean we have to close some plants, as was the case this year. We understand that it has very real consequences both for the employees concerned, and the surrounding community. We offer a range of support for people facing redundancy, such as redeployment, outplacement, re-training, coaching or financial support to start their own businesses. During 2011 we were forced to make 170 employees redundant in Finland, 74 in the USA, 39 in Germany, 22 in Italy, and 35 in Brazil, as well as 22 in various other locations, making a total of 362. A further 446 people transferred to Suominen Corporation as part of our divestment of the Home and Personal business. According to our strategy for the future to grow in Asia, we acquired a filtration plant in Binzhou, in China s Shandong province, in 2010. We began producing glass fiber reinforcements at the plant in late 2011, with a special focus on components for the wind turbines needed for renewable energy generation, which is a major growth area in Asia. We also plan to make wallcoverings at the Binzhou plant, and announced a joint venture for the production of masking tape substrates and medical papers in Longkou, Shandong province, China. By the end of 2011 we had 207 employees in China and our production in Asia Pacific had increased by 17 percent compared to 2010. Ahlstrom s economic impacts in 2011 AHLSTROM S CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS 1000 EUR 2011 2010 2009 Direct economic value generated * a) Revenues 1,852,582 1,894,200 1,596,100 Economic value distributed * b) Operating costs 1,496,692 1,416,251 1,207,202 c) Employee wages and benefits 353,806 350,000 337,800 d) Payments to providers of capital 22,914 28,200 27,000 e) Payments to government 5,210 7,600-7,100 f) Community investments 74 74 66 Economic value retained (calculated as Economic value generated less Economic value distributed) -26,133 92,075 31,132 EUR 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 Local Group * with divested operations 0 06 07 08 09 10 11 32

Code of Conduct and human rights Code of Conduct Our values as a company are Act responsibly, Create value, and Learn and renew. As part of this, we have recently updated our Code of Conduct, which covers all aspects of the way we deal with employees, business partners and communities. The revised Code now includes a grievance mechanism which allows employees to report any concerns they may have to codeviolation@ahlstrom.com. Only the VP, Legal Affairs, General Counsel has access to this e-mail address. The Code was approved late in the year and no concerns were reported in 2011. You can read the full text of the Code in the appendix 1 on page 44 45. We will be training all our employees on their responsibilities under the Code in the course of 2012. We will also be introducing a Supplier Code of Conduct this year. Human rights We are committed to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and we observe the International Labor Organization s Core Conventions on labor rights. These are particularly important in markets where the local legal framework is under-developed. We also support the United Nations Global Compact and its 10 principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Issues relating to human rights are included in our Code of Conduct, and in an internal audit standard applied to all our plants. These audits also include health and safety, and the environment, and are carried out once every three years. Ten assessments were made in 2011, which means 31 percent of the 32 operating plants at year s end had been audited for human rights. We have comprehensive compliance policies, for which we provide online and face-to face training, with a special emphasis on competition, antitrust and anticorruption issues. A total of 456 people were trained last year, and we are focusing in particular on training staff in Asia, since that s a region of strategic importance for us. The Eva Ahlström Foundation Photo courtesy of UNICEF Finland The Eva Ahlström Foundation is a humanitarian organization that supports underprivileged women, children and young people in Finland and throughout the world, especially those dealing with poverty, oppression, war, political instability or natural disasters. The Eva Ahlström Foundation was founded in 2010 in honor of Eva Ahlström, the wife of Ahlstrom s founder, who was a generous supporter of healthcare, culture, and education, especially for girls. The Foundation is currently supporting a three-year program in the Madhya Pradesh area of India, where it is working with UNICEF Finland to provide clean water, sanitation and better hygiene in schools. Educating the children on water hygiene will improve their own health, and help spread the message to the rest of their families. Overall the project will reach 150 schools, 37,500 children and 15,000 families. Ahlstrom s donation to the project is a way of demonstrating our commitment to children s rights and sustainable development in India, which is becoming an important market for us. We opened our medical nonwoven plant in Mundra in the neighboring Gujarat state in 2010, and have a sales office in New Delhi. 33

Supply chain All our products are made from fibers, and 87 percent of those we used in 2011 were from renewable sources. 34

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Responsible sourcing Ahlstrom raw materials in 2011 Packaging 2% Synthetic fibers 9% Our renewable fiber sources include wood pulp, other natural fibers, recycled fibers and synthetic polymers made from renewable sources such as viscose and poly-lactic acid (PLA). The proportion of renewable fibers we used went up by 5 percent this year. In 2011, we purchased 1,228 thousand tons of raw materials, worth EUR 923 million. Natural fibers made up 64 percent of all our raw materials, and the percentage of chemicals dropped to 25 percent, compared with 28 percent in 2010. Thirtytwo percent of our raw materials were sourced from South America mainly in the form of wood pulp. Seventeen percent came from North America, 46 percent from Europe, and 6 percent from Asia. We have manufacturing plants across the world, and source our raw materials locally when we can. Responsible forest management All of our wood fibers are purchased from suppliers who can provide us with the quality of pulp we need, under long-term contracts. We require our pulp suppliers to be Chainof-Custody certified, either through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC TM ) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC TM ) schemes. Some suppliers have both. We believe that using certified suppliers is one of the most effective ways we can help tackle climate change, since that ensures the responsible management of the world s forest resources. As yet less than 10 percent of forests are certified in this way, most of them in Europe and North America, which means that supplies of certified pulp remain scarce. Both the FSC and PEFC standards were updated last year to include social criteria such as health and safety and human rights, and both our suppliers and our own certified plants were audited against these new standards. Chemicals 25% Total 1,228 ktons Natural fibers 64% 36

Fourteen of our plants are now Chain-of- Custody certified, with two more added during 2011: Windsor Locks, in Connecticut, and West Carrollton, in Ohio, were the first of our North American plants to achieve this. See table on page 42. We hope the plant at Chirnside, Scotland, will go through the process in 2012, which will mean that the only plants using wood pulp that are not certified will be those in the Filtration business, as there is currently no demand from our customers for certified filter materials. In other areas of our business the sales of certified products continued to increase considerably demand rose almost 50 percent last year compared to 2010. Recycled fibers We use recycled fiber wherever practical. This tends to be in products closest to printing and writing papers, and similar applications, such as in wallpaper base, poster paper, and paper for repositionable notes. We also use recycled polyester fibers in our nonwoven wallcoverings, which helps to minimize their environmental impacts. They also contribute to a building s green credentials, with no reduction in the quality of the product. Most of our products cannot use recycled fibers; strength and consistency are often a problem, and there are also stringent hygiene requirements for food packaging and medical materials. CO 2 emissions from transportation We ve been examining ways to reduce the CO 2 emissions we generate from transporting raw materials and finished products. For example, we ve piloted the use of rail, rather than truck transport for pulp arriving at our La Gere plant in France, and this has proved to save both CO 2 and money. Our other European plants are now following the same model, and we are also examining other ways to manage our freight more effectively. As we ve stated elsewhere in this report, we have also established that, contrary to popular opinion, the bulk transport of pulp to Europe by sea from South America is not significantly different, in environmental terms, to sourcing pulp from Europe. Sources of energy Last year we used 4,567,925 MWh of energy. We prefer to use natural gas, which is the cleanest burning fuel, but given the nature of our manufacturing processes it is a challenge to change the energy mix used by our plants. That said, we are continuing to look at the possibility of using renewables. Purchased steam 15% Grid - electrical power 20% Sources of energy Natural gas 51% Secondary fuels and recovered methanol 8% Coal 7% 37

Environmental management in manufacturing Management approach There are two key principles at the heart of our environmental strategy: to minimize emissions to the air, water and soil, and to optimize the efficiency of our operations, thus saving raw materials and resources. These two principles translate into five group-wide KPIs: Our water intake (m 3 /ton) Our electrical energy efficiency (MWh/ton) Our fuel energy efficiency (GJ/ton) The waste we send to landfill (kg/ton) Our CO 2 emissions (kg/ton) We are also ensuring that our manufacturing plants have ISO 14001 environmental certification. This gives us a robust and consistent framework for managing environmental performance at each plant. In each case we aim for continuous improvement based on identifying the environmental impacts of both the operation and the products; setting goals and objectives relative to these impacts; monitoring performance against these goals and targets; and taking action to ensure ongoing progress in environmental performance. Environmental impacts In 2011, we made significant changes to our operating model, which in turn had an effect in our environmental profile. Three plants were no longer under Ahlstrom ownership (Groesbeck, USA, Altenkirchen, Germany, and Wuxi, China), and a new filtration facility was acquired in Binzhou, China. We also sold our Home and Personal business to Suominen Corporation, and six manufacturing plants were included in that sale, with another significantly affected. Taken together, these changes have fundamentally recast Ahlstrom s environmental profile. For example, our gross production dropped by 5 percent compared to 2010, to 1,110,673 tons. We have announced the closure of the Karhula glass fiber production facility in Finland and the glass weaving facility in Bishopville, USA, and we anticipate that this will have a further impact on our environmental footprint. Eliminating waste at source Resource efficiency is absolutely key to a sustainable operation. This means minimizing waste and utilizing all raw materials as efficiently as possible. We ve always believed that the best way to manage waste is to produce less of it. As part of this we initiated a worldwide waste reduction program in 2009, with the aim of reducing waste at source at all of our production plants. The initial goal was to cut waste by 2 percent in 18 months, which was later revised to a 3.5 percent reduction target over 2 years. The goal was exceeded by the end of 2011, with waste generation cut by 3.9 percent. This equates to over 40,000 tons of raw material, as well as the energy that would have been required to process it. At the end of 2011, our material loss rate, which is the difference between gross and net tons produced, hit an all-time low, thanks to the work done by teams across the company. We re continuing to look for further opportunities to reduce waste and make our manufacturing processes more efficient. 38

Energy and CO 2 We have a long-term strategy to reduce our CO 2 emissions, and achieved an 8 percent reduction in 2011, compared to 2010. The normalized rate of CO 2 emissions (i.e. CO 2 per ton of product produced) was cut by 3.3 percent. This improvement was driven principally by the use of natural gas wherever possible, the burning of waste as fuel, and the out-sourcing of our boiler operations. Our overall energy use also dropped by 4.5 percent, as a result of better energy efficiency coupled with lower production levels. However, changes in the profile of our production operations led to a rise of 0.5 percent in the power required per ton of product. Our continuous improvement teams are actively working on energy saving projects throughout the business, and we invested EUR 2.14 million in energy efficient projects during 2011. In the last five years we have spent EUR 12 million in such projects achieving a level where we remove ca. 100,000 tons of CO 2 out of the atmosphere every year. This level of support will continue in 2012. We published our greenhouse gas emissions in the 2011 Carbon Disclosure Project, this was the fourth time we participated. Emissions into the air Our emissions of major air pollutants such as CO 2, SO 2 and particles were down in 2011, principally in proportion to the reduction in our production levels and the amount of fuel we used. Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) rose by 0.4 percent due to increased production at the Karhula fiberglass manufacturing facility in Finland. In terms of kilograms per ton of product produced, SO 2 emissions fell by 5 percent and particle emissions by 25 percent, as we switched to natural gas from coal and oil. Energy efficiency CO 2 emissions Emissions into the air MWh/ton 1,100 1,050 1,000 950 900 850 800 07 08 09 10 11 GJ/ton 10.60 10.40 10.20 10.00 9.80 9.60 9.40 9.20 9.00 Electrical energy MWh/ton of product Fuel energy efficiency GJ/ton of product ton CO2/year 750,000 700,000 650,000 600,000 550,000 500,000 450,000 400,000 07 08 09 10 11 kg CO2 /ton of product 700 ton CO2/year 650 kg CO2/ton 600 of product 550 500 450 400 350 mg/mj mg/m 3 100 80 30 25 mg NOX/MJ fuel input mg SO2/MJ 20 60 fuel input 15 Particles mg/m 3 40 20 0 07 08 09 10 11 10 5 0 39

Water intake and discharges Our overall water intake was down by 3 percent to 47,590,706 cubic meters. Water intake per ton of product produced rose slightly by 2.2 percent, which again reflects our new manufacturing profile. Our emissions of direct effluent wastewater dropped by nearly 2.3 million cubic meters, partly thanks to the fact that our plant in Hyun Poong, South Korea, now pre-treats its wastewater and discharges it to a new municipal facility. Overall, some 84 percent of the water used is returned to its source. The key measure for pollutants in effluent water Chemical Oxygen Demand per ton of product, or COD was unchanged from 2010, but two other key measures, total Suspended Solids (TSS), and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), both improved in 2011. They were down 6 percent and 10 percent respectively, driven principally by improved removals at Osnabrück, Germany, Windsor Locks, USA, and the two Italian plants at Cressa and Turin. Total phosphorus rose slightly by 5.6 percent. Total nitrogen also increased. The increase in nitrogen levels was driven by a new approach to managing wastewater at our plant at Stenay, France. This new approach had the effect of reducing COD discharges by 13 percent and BOD discharges by 29 percent while still respecting local limits on nitrogen. Million m 3 /year 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Total water intake and discharge 07 08 09 10 11 Total water intake m 3 /year Cooling water m 3 /year Total water discharge m 3 /year COD and BOD in the effluents kg COD/ ton of product kg BOD/ ton of product 2.5 0.6 COD kg/ton 2.0 1.5 0.5 0.4 BOD kg/ton 1.0 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 07 08 09 10 11 0.0 Total suspended solids in the effluents kg TSS/ year 450 0.45 0.40 400 0.35 0.30 350 0.25 0.20 300 0.15 250 0.10 0.05 200 0.00 07 08 09 10 11 kg TSS/ ton of product TSS kg/year TSS kg/ton 40

Waste to landfill In the last ten years we ve reduced the amount of waste we send to landfill by 75 percent, and our long-term ambition is to send no waste to landfill at all. This ambition is driven by our firm belief that landfilling represents a long-term liability and the least desirable of available disposal methods. We plan to achieve our zero landfilling goal by 2015. We made very good progress on this in 2011, reaching an all-time low level of 14.6 kg per ton of product. This figure represents a 6.6 percent reduction from 2010 levels, which had been the lowest to date. Nine of our plants are already sending no waste to a landfill. In 2011, this number increased again when the plant in Brignoud, France, succeeded in eliminating all wastes from landfill. Performance against targets In 2011, we achieved our environmental targets in three areas: CO 2 emissions, wasteto-landfill, and ISO 14001 certification, where 98 percent of the company s production capacity is now certified. We did not meet our targets in water intake, energy efficiency, and fuel energy efficiency. This is because the sale of some of our operating plants significantly affected our environmental profile in these areas. A team has been established within our new Supply Chain organization to focus on these opportunities for improvement. Looking to the future We have established five year targets for our environmental performance. These are shown on page 2. These are very ambitious goals, but we re confident that we can build on our past successes and achieve what we set ourselves to do. Nitrogen and phosphorus in the effluents kg/ton of product 0.100 Total Nitrogen 0.080 Total Phosphorus 0.060 0.040 0.020 tons/year 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 Landfilled solid waste kg/ton of product 25 tons/year kg/ton of product 20 15 10 5 0 07 08 09 10 11 0 07 08 09 10 11 0 41

Certification status Reducing the waste to landfill ENVIRON- HEALTH PLANT COUNTRY FSC PEFC QUALITY MENTAL & SAFETY OTHER Barcelona SPAIN ISO 9001, TS 16949 ISO 14001 IPPC Bethune USA ISO 9001 Binzhou CHINA in 2013 Bishopville USA ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Bousbecque FRANCE X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Brignoud FRANCE X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 IPPC Chirnside UK ISO 9001 ISO 14001 IPPC Hyun Poong KOREA ISO 9001, TS16949 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Jacarei BRAZIL X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Karhula FINLAND ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Kauttua FINLAND ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 La Gère FRANCE X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Longkou CHINA Ahlstrom ownership 60%, Ahlstrom employees on site Louveira BRAZIL ISO 9001, TS 16949 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Madisonville USA ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Malmédy BELGIUM X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 IPPC Mikkeli FINLAND ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Mount Holly Springs USA ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Mundra INDIA ISO 9001 in 2013 Osnabrück GERMANY X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 EEG Pont Audemer FRANCE X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Radcliffe UK ISO 9001 ISO 14001 IPPC Rottersac FRANCE X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Saint Séverin FRANCE X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 Sassoferato ITALY ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Stenay FRANCE X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Ställdalen SWEDEN X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001EN 16001 Tampere FINLAND ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Taylorville USA ISO 9001 ISO 14001 IPPC Turin ITALY X X ISO 9001, TS 16949 ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001 EMAS Tver RUSSIA in 2012 West Carrollton USA X X in 2012 Windsor Locks USA X X ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Ahlstrom Group FINLAND X X N/A N/A N/A Generating energy in France EEG = Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz EMAS = Eco-Management and Audit Schema EN = Guidance and requirements for energy management systems IPPC = International Plant Protection Convention ISO = International Standardization Organizations ISO/TS = ISO Technical Specification (for automotive quality systems) OHSAS = Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Services VPP = Voluntary Protection Program 42

Collaboration and innovation This story is another good example of the value of partnerships, and how collaborations with our customers and suppliers can lead to profitable and sustainable innovations. In the last ten years we ve reduced the amount of waste we send to landfill by 75 percent, and our ambition is to send no waste to landfill at all. We re putting this into practice by systematically reducing waste throughout our manufacturing operations. When all these alternatives have been implemented, the next best option is recycling, followed by composting and using the waste to generate energy. In 2009 a former Ahlstrom employee set up Nesocell a new business based in Italy, to develop a new and sustainable insulation material from the sludge waste generated during paper production. This new material can help reduce energy use in a building by up to 70 percent, and is easier to install and transport than insulation panels. This means it has a lower environmental impact than traditional approaches to insulation. It s also flame-retardant, recyclable, and very breathable. The patented process involved in creating this new material requires very high quality cellulose fibers, which are being sourced from the nearby Ahlstrom plant in Turin. Everyone wins with this new idea: Nesocell are able to offer customers a more efficient and sustainable product, and our Turin plant can turn useless waste into something with a real value and environmental purpose. This approach has a number of advantages. It avoids all the negative consequences of landfill, and can also reduce the need to burn fossil fuels to generate energy, which saves carbon. Our plant at Brignoud, France is a good example. In the past it shipped between 480 and 960 tons of waste a year to landfill plants, but last May the plant identified a local energy plant that could take the sort of waste the plant produces. As a result around 700 tons of waste a year is now being used to generate energy for local businesses and households a total of over 3,000 MWh of electricity. Recycling in Brazil Recycling certain types of filter paper used to present a real challenge for our plant in Louveira, Brazil. Transportation filters need to be so robust that turning the waste produced during manufacture back into usable pulp was extremely difficult, which meant that 80 percent of the waste Louveira sent to landfill was this type of paper. The plant decided they needed to do something about this, and set themselves the goal of eliminating all landfill waste within two years. The first step towards this was to work with a paper recycling company on more effective process for re-pulping the filter paper. As a result this waste can now be used in the production of cardboard for packaging materials, which saves money and reduces the plant s environmental impact. The technical requirements of the new process also required the phenol and formaldehyde residues in the original material to be reduced, and the plant managed to achieve this too. Now Louveira can send all this waste for recycling, and the same process is also being used by the customers who use this material to manufacture transportation filters, which helps them improve their own environmental performance. It was a way to differentiate ourselves in comparison to the competition, says Osvaldo Wagno Carvalho, the manager who coordinated the project. 43

Appendix 1 Renewed Code of Conduct 1. Introduction The Ahlstrom Code of Conduct describes the ethical principles that underpin how we conduct business in our company. It is based on our core values - Act responsibly, Create value, and Learn and renew - and takes into account our principles of how to manage business in a sustainable manner as well as the legislation in the countries where we operate. The Code applies to everyone in the company. 2. The Code of Conduct These are the principles that our Code is based on: We comply with national and international laws and regulations We respect and promote human rights We adhere to high ethical standards in everything we do We respect the environment We are committed to maintaining a safe, healthy and fair workplace for our employees We are good citizens in all our communities We avoid conflicts of interest We protect Ahlstrom s assets, both tangible and intangible, including intellectual property, confidential information, and the company name 2.1. We comply with national and international laws and regulations We abide by all the appropriate international and national laws and regulations. We adhere to our own internal Ahlstrom policies and procedures, and ask for guidance whenever we are unsure. We refrain from any dealings with competitors or other firms that could be harmful to our customers interests. We condemn all corrupt business practices, and refuse to take part in any act of bribery, whether of government officials or anyone else. You can find more detail on this in our Compliance Program. 2. 2. We respect and promote human rights We treat all our people with respect, and give them all equal opportunities for personal growth and professional development, regardless of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, disabilities, nationality, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, political affiliations, marital or economic status, or position within the company. We support the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the UN Global Compact covering human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. This commits us to eradicate child labor and forced labor anywhere in our organization and supply chain, and recognize our employees right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. 2.3. We adhere to high ethical standards in everything we do We conduct our business with the utmost professionalism and integrity, and to the most demanding moral, ethical and legal standards. We keep our promises, and take due care of our own employees and the people and firms we do business with. We develop working partnerships that are fair, responsible and mutually beneficial. We keep correct and complete internal records, and issue transparent and accurate external reports. This is a key part of our overall ambition to achieve excellence in everything we do, and consistently deliver the best possible service to our customers. 2.4. We respect the environment We minimize the environmental impact of our operations, source responsibly and use all our resources as efficiently as possible. We comply with environmental legislation, and strive to exceed those demands. We co-operate fully with any environmental inspections or monitoring, and report our environmental performance openly and honestly. We limit our emissions to the soil, water and air to permissible levels, and reduce the environmental impact of our products over their entire lifecycle. This is all part of our belief that we have a responsibility to manage the planet s resources sustainably, on behalf of future generations. 44

2.5. We are committed to maintaining a safe, healthy and fair workplace for our employees We take responsibility for our own safety, and our colleagues, by following the company s safety standards, wherever we are in the world. We get the necessary safety training before we start a job, and intervene if others are in danger or are violating safety rules. We adhere to all local Health & Safety regulations, and where appropriate, exceed them. We report near-misses, and share best practice proactively across the whole company. We encourage a healthy balance between work and personal life, and we do not tolerate any form of abuse, intimidation, or harassment at work, whether that s physical, sexual, or psychological. 2.6. We are good citizens in all our communities We care for our community, and act as responsible neighbors. We respect the cultures, customs and values of local people and societies, wherever we are in the world. We make a positive contribution to social and economic development in our local communities, and minimize any negative impacts from our operations. We listen to local people, and take their views into account, and encourage our own employees to play an active role in their own neighborhoods. 2.7. We avoid conflicts of interest We take care that no personal considerations or relationships influence the way we do business on behalf of Ahlstrom. We ensure that our business travel and accommodation expenses are always paid by the company, and we do not give or accept gifts, entertainment, or hospitality beyond what would normally be considered reasonable. We report anything that might be considered a conflict of interest in our work to our line manager. 2.8. We protect Ahlstrom s assets, both tangible and intangible, including intellectual property, confidential information, and the company name We only use Ahlstrom property for company business, and treat assets such as vehicles and equipment with care and respect, reporting any theft or misuse. We maintain the physical security of our facilities and ensure all visitors are appropriately authorized. We safeguard the company s confidential and proprietary information, and share it with people outside the organization only when an approved confidentiality agreement is in place. We take all sensible steps to protect our computer systems, and ensure our passwords are secure and up-to-date. We are aware at all times that Ahlstrom s tangible and intangible assets belong to the company, not to individuals, regardless of their position. There s more detail about the protection of the company s intellectual property in the Ahlstrom s Intellectual Property Policy and Guidelines, which includes guidance on respecting the intellectual property owned by third parties. 3. How to report a concern We want all our employees and other stakeholders to feel they can freely report any concerns they might have about possible violations of this Code. This might include, for example, suspected irregularities in accounting or financial reporting, potential conflicts of interest or illegal acts, as well as any environmental or human rights issues. Employees can report concerns like this to their own manager, or to any other senior manager or the Human Resources or Legal department. If you wish to remain anonymous your identity will not be revealed unless it is absolutely necessary in order to carry out a proper investigation. Messages can be sent by employees and other external stakeholders by e-mail to a dedicated and confidential mailbox, codeviolation@ahlstrom.com. Only the VP, Legal Affairs, General Counsel has access to this email address. We do not use our jobs to further our own private or financial interests. The Code of Conduct is part of the Ahlstrom Compliance Program and is overseen by the VP Legal Affairs, General Counsel. 45

Appendix 2 Adherence to GRI3.1 Economic Performance Indicators Page EC1 Direct economic value generated and distributed, including revenues, operating costs, employee compensation, donations and other community investments, retained earnings, and payments to capital providers and governments 32 EC2 Financial implications and other risks and opportunities for the organization's activities due to climate change 36 39 EC4 Significant financial assistance received from government. EUR 1.6 Million EC6 Policy, practices, and proportion of spending on locally-based suppliers at significant locations of operation 7, 36 Environmental Performance Indicators EN1 Materials used by weight or volume. 36 EN3 Direct energy consumption by primary energy source. 37, 39 EN4 Indirect energy consumption by primary source. 39 EN5 Energy saved due to conservation and efficiency improvements. 37 39 EN6 Initiatives to provide energy-efficient or renewable energy based products and services, and reductions in energy requirements as a result of these initiatives. 14 19, 21 22 EN7 Initiatives to reduce indirect energy consumption and reductions achieved 37 EN8 Total water withdrawal by source. 40 EN14 Strategies, current actions, and future plans for managing impacts on biodiversity. 36 EN16 Total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by weight. 39 EN18 Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reductions achieved. 36 39 EN20 NOx, SOx, and other significant air emissions by type and weight. 39 EN21 Total water discharge by quality and destination. 40 EN22 Total weight of waste by type and disposal method. 41 EN23 Total number and volume of significant spills. zero EN26 Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts of products and services, and extent of impact mitigation. 14 19, 21 22 EN28 Monetary value of significant fines and total number of non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations. zero EN29 Significant environmental impacts of transporting products and other goods and materials used for the organization s operations, and transporting members of the workforce. 37 Labour Practices and Decent Work LA1 Total workforce by employment type, employment contract, and region, broken down by gender. 26 LA2 Total number and rate of new employee hires and employee turnover by age group, gender and region. 27 LA7 Rates of injury, occupational diseases, lost days, absenteeism and total number of work-related fatalities, by region and by gender. 30 LA11 Programs for skills management and lifelong learning that support the continued employability of employees and assist them in managing career endings. 27, 32 LA12 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews, by gender. 2, 26 LA13 Composition of governance bodies and breakdown of employees per category according to gender, age group, minority group membership, and other indicators of diversity. 26 Human Rights HR3 Total hours of training on policies and procedures concerning aspects of human rights that are relevant to operations, including the percentage of employees trained. 33 HR4 Total number of incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken. 33 HR10 Percentage and total number of operations that have been subject to human rights reviews and/or impact assessments. 33, 36 HR11 Number of grievances related to human rights filed, addressed, and resolved through formal grievance mechanisms. zero 46

Society Page SO1 Percentage of operations with implemented local community engagement, impact assessments, and development programs. 32 SO3 Percentage of employees trained in organization s anti-corruption policies and procedures. 33 SO5 Public policy positions and participation in public policy development and lobbying. 11 SO6 Total value of financial and in-kind contributions to political parties, politicians, and related institutions by country. 32 SO10 Prevention and mitigation measures implemented in operations with significant or actual negative impacts on local communities. 32 Product Responsibility PR5 Practices related to customer satisfaction, including results of surveys measuring customer satisfaction. 10 PR6 Programs for adherence to laws, standards, and voluntary codes related to marketing communications, including advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. 36, 42 Appendix 3 Adherence to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact Human Rights Page Principle 1 Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and 33, 44 45 Principle 2 make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. 33, 36 Labor Principle 3 Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; 26, 33, 36, 44 45 Principle 4 the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor; 33, 36, 44 45 Principle 5 the effective abolition of child labor; and 33, 36, 44 45 Principle 6 the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. 33, 36, 44 45 Environment Principle 7 Businesses are asked to support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; 38 43 Principle 8 undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and 38 43 Principle 9 encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. 38 43 Anti-corruption Principle 10 Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. 33, 44 45 47

Our history of corporate responsibility Antti Ahlström founds the company in 1851, and runs it with his wife Eva for 25 years until his death in 1896. He plays a key role in the development of Finnish public education: elementary schools are established wherever the company has a plant. He sets up Finland s first co-educational school in Pori, and supports higher education. He is also an early and passionate pioneer of women s rights, and after his death his wife Eva runs the company until 1903. Antti Ahlström 1851 1901 1911 The first elementary school in Noormarkku. Villa Mairea designed by Alvar Aalto and built in 1938 1939. Ahlström is by now the biggest company in Finland, with sawmills, pulp and paper mills, engineering and glass plants forming the core of the business. CEO Harry Gullichsen commissions Alvar Aalto to design detailed new town plans for Varkaus, Karhula, Kauttua and Sunila, incorporating better infrastructure, transport, schools and houses. As a result of this work, and the house he designs for the Gullichsens in Noormarkku, Aalto becomes one of the most celebrated architects of the period. The acquisition of Cartiere Bosso S.p.A. in Italy in 1963 makes Ahlström a pioneer in international expansion among Finnish companies. 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 Eva Ahlström funds the building of a hospital in Noormarkku in 1903. Employee housing is provided at the Ahlström plants in Kauttua, Varkaus, Noormarkku, and Karhula. A new regional plan is developed for the Varkaus area. Further support for employee housing as part of the post-war reconstruction effort. Ahlström is recognized for its environmental protection program, including Finland s first flotation plant for wastewater treatment. Eva Ahlström Eva Ahlström hospital in Noormarkku. Photos from 1910. Karhula employee housing designed by Alvar Aalto. Photo Martti Kapanen, Alvar Aalto museum. During the Second World War two thirds of the workers were women. The amount was the highest in 1943. 48

Path breaking environmentally beneficial technologies were developed in the 1980s Engineers in the Hyun Poong plant in South Korea. - Pyroflow boilers enjoyed global success thanks to their particularly low SO 2 and NOx emissions. - MC (medium consistency) pumps were saving both energy and the environment due to less water and discharges in the process. - The Dispro web-forming method was both resource efficient and improved the quality of the web at the same time. Expansion in Asia starts with the establishment of a filter paper mill in South Korea in 1987 as a joint venture between Ahlström and On Yang Pulp Co.Ltd. Ahlstrom is entirely focused on specialty papers and nonwovens, with 40 plants in 14 countries. Sustainability awareness grows worldwide. 1980 1991 1998 2001 2011 Finnish Glass Museum Photo Collection 1985 Ahlström received recognition for its unique contributions to preserving cultural heritage with 7 museums established for industrial history. Ahlström completes construction of a new manufacturing plant for release liner production in Mathi, Italy designed by architects Gabetti & Isola and Franco Fusari. The design was widely recognized as a great example of modern industrial architecture aimed for low visual impact and harmony with the local residential architecture. The company starts using innovative recycled fiber technologies in Germany. Comprehensive environmental monitoring and protection programs are put in place. Ahlström Osnabrück receives FSC Chain-of- Custody certification in 1998. Certified pulp arrives by boat in Osnabrück. EUR 500,000 donated to Aalto University in Finland. The company s support to Eva Ahlström foundation is channeled to a water and school project in India as part of its continuing commitment to educational and humanitarian causes.

Ahlstrom Corporation P.O. Box 329, FI-00101 Helsinki Salmisaarenaukio 1, FI-00180 Helsinki Finland Tel. +358 (0) 10 888 0 Fax. +358 (0) 10 888 4709 firstname.lastname@ahlstrom.com www.ahlstrom.com