The land that is used for planting belongs to the community Reykhólahreppur and was rented by the local reforestation association for 100 years, between 1951 and 2051. People in Reykhólar have been planting voluntarily since 1951 to cover land and prevent erosion. This is a well-known national action in all of Iceland and has bee on the governmental agenda for decades.  The latest policy is from august 2022.

The long term Icelandic strategy has been made public and states that trees should be used for timber, outddor activities, to make shaelter etc. 

Even though Thorverk uses only geothermal heat for drying and only icelandic electric power (that is only made with hydro, geothermal and some wind) now we cannot state that these are all emission free. See here