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Growing Green and Competitive—A Case Study of a Swedish Pulp Mill

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  • Kristina Söderholm

    (History of Technology Unit, Luleå University of Technology, SE 971 87 Luleå, Sweden)

  • Ann-Kristin Bergquist

    (Department of Geography and Economic History, Umeå University, SE 901 87 Umeå, Sweden)

Abstract

The experiences of past efforts of industrial pollution control while maintaining competitiveness should be of great value to research and policy practice addressing sustainability issues today. In this article, we analyze the environmental adaptation of the Swedish pulp industry during the period 1970–1990 as illustrated by the sulfite pulp producer Domsjö mill. We investigate how this company managed to adapt to heavy transformation pressure from increasing international competition in combination with strict national environmental regulations during the 1960s to the early 1990s. In line with the so-called Porter hypothesis, the company was able to coordinate the problems that were environmental in nature with activities aiming at production efficiency goals and the development of new products. Swedish environmental agencies and legislation facilitated this “win-win” situation by a flexible but still challenging regulatory approach towards the company. From the early 1990s and onwards, the greening of the pulp industry was also a result of increased market pressure for green paper products.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina Söderholm & Ann-Kristin Bergquist, 2013. "Growing Green and Competitive—A Case Study of a Swedish Pulp Mill," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(5), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:5:p:1789-1805:d:25374
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Maria Pettersson & Patrik Söderholm, 2014. "Industrial Pollution Control and Efficient Licensing Processes: The Case of Swedish Regulatory Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Söderholm, Kristina & Söderholm, Patrik & Helenius, Heidi & Pettersson, Maria & Viklund, Roine & Masloboev, Vladimir & Mingaleva, Tatiana & Petrov, Viktor, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness in the mining industry: Permitting processes with special focus on Finland, Sweden and Russia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 130-142.
    3. Zhu, Qinghua & Geng, Yong & Sarkis, Joseph, 2016. "Shifting Chinese organizational responses to evolving greening pressures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 65-74.
    4. Zhengge Tu & Tao Zhou & Ning Zhang, 2019. "Does China’s Pollution Levy Standards Reform Promote Green Growth?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, November.

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