Northern wood is durable and can be formed into many shapes
Wood is an ecological, environmentally friendly, and renewable natural resource. Forests are active carbon sinks that reduce carbon dioxide concentrations. Wood is also an excellent material from a design perspective, as it can be formed into many different shapes and can support both tall and heavy structures. As an organic material, wood is well suited to a very broad range of climatic conditions, from harsh northern winters to the southern sun and humid coastal areas.
The Northern pine is a great raw material for both playground and sports equipment, along with park furniture
Untreated wood is susceptible to rot. In order to ensure the long life of our playground equipment, we use a closed process to treat our wood with environmentally friendly preservatives. Thanks to this environmentally friendly protective treatment, our wooden products will have a very long life if regularly maintained. The timber used in Lappset’s products comes from Finnish, PEFC-certified commercial forests. Thanks to our Chain of Custody certificate, we can ensure chain of custody management for our raw materials from the woodlot to our factory.
For Finns, managing forests in accordance with the principles of sustainable development is a matter of course. Learn more about climate-wise forest management by watching the Metsähallitus video below.
Climate smart forestry
Read more about wood preservation used in Lappset products:
We use PEFC-certified northern pine
The frost may bite, and the sun may scorch, but the northern pine will endure it all. Nature is a good advocator of our choice of materials. The Northern pine (Pinus Sylvestris) has always been exposed to the four seasons and changing weather conditions that shift from one extreme to another. It remains pleasant to use whatever the weather, as it does not get hot in the sun or freeze in the cold. Pine is also an economically and ecologically sustainable material. It has an estimated lifespan of 10–20 years as long as the wood used in outdoor structures is preserved and maintained in an appropriate manner. In certain playgrounds, you can even find some of our products that were installed more than thirty years ago! In order to ensure the long life of our playground equipment, we use a closed process to treat our wood with environmentally friendly preservatives.
Pine has another important characteristic in addition to its durability: it is also an environmentally friendly raw material with a negative carbon footprint. We only use wood felled from certified forests, which means that it is guaranteed to be ecologically produced. Our current PEFC certificate is the most widely used forestry certificate in the world and can only be granted by independent auditors. The use of certified forests is also closely monitored.
Why PEFC and not FSC?
PEFC and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) are the two main global forest certification systems. More than half of all the forests in the world (64%) are PEFC-certified, while only about 31% are FSC-certified.
- The structure of forest ownership in Finland is different from many other European countries. There are numerous small and large forest owners in Finland, such as private individuals, families, organizations, associations, businesses, and regional and national authorities. Parishes and the Finnish State also own vast tracts of forest. As the PEFC certification system enables the group certification of forests, the structure of forest ownership in Finland makes it the better option.
- Another benefit of the PEFC system is its transparency, as all forest certificates and their associated data are public.