Wood in Our Future: The Role of Life-Cycle Analysis Proceedings of a Symposium (1997) / Chapter Skim
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LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT FOR PAPER PRODUCTS
LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT FOR PAPER PRODUCTS
Pages 54-68
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From page 54... ...
consequences of their paperpurchasing decisions and to provide them with steps they can take to increase their purchase and use of environmentally preferable paper. The technical basis for the environmental preferences identified in the Paper Task Force recommendations is an analysis of environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of several major grades of paper, reaching literally from the forest to the landfill.
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From page 55... ...
To explain the environmental differences between virgin and recycled-paper production, use, and postuse management, it is necessary to assemble a complete picture. This means not just examining differences in recycled and virgin manufacturing processes and in waste disposal versus material recovery systems, but also considering the "upstream" impacts associated with acquiring virgin fiber from forests.
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From page 56... ...
The Environmental Defense Fund chose instead to include a full assessment and description of forest management impacts, and through these recommendations, we have directly integrated the information as a paper-purchasing consideration. Significantly, such information is not only relevant in assessing the relative merits of recycled versus virgin fiber content, but also in identifying environmental preferences among different management practices used to produce virgin fiber.
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From page 57... ...
The environmental data gathered by the task force on the recycled and virgin-fiber-based systems included energy use and environmental releases in the form of solid-waste output, releases in several categories of air emissions and waterborne wastes, and water use-effluent flow in manufacturing (Table 7-1~. Our methodology for two specific categories of environmental parametersenergy use and emissions of greenhouse gases merits further elaboration.
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From page 58... ...
Consumption of fossil fuels contributes to the depletion of a natural resource, and fossil fuel extraction and transportation can damage natural resources through mining activities (for example, strip-mining for coal) and accidental releases of raw fuels or other pollutants to the environment (for example, oil spills, refinery explosions, leaks from natural gas pipelines)
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From page 59... ...
Only one pound of these emissions was derived from CO2 originally absorbed by the trees used to make the paper; hence, all 69 pounds are counted in total greenhouse gas emissions; 68 pounds are counted as net greenhouse gas emissions. Both total and net greenhouse gas emissions are expressed in terms of CO2 equivalents.
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From page 60... ...
or recovered deinked newspapers; corrugated boxes made using either virgin unbleached kraft linerboard and semichemical medium or recovered corrugated boxes; office papers made using either virgin uncoated freesheet or recovered deinked office paper; and paperboard used in folding cartons made using either virgin pulp (coated unbleached kraft or solid bleached sulfate) or nondeinked recovered paper.
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From page 62... ...
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From page 63... ...
This assumption of curbside collection overstates the energy use and associated environmental releases associated with collection of paper, especially for grades such as corrugated containers and office paper that are collected largely from commercial sources through more efficient systems. Similarly, our analysis includes processing of recovered paper at material recovery facilities.
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From page 64... ...
Assumes 670 kWh of electricity generated by a utility is avoided by combusting 1 ton of ONP. Avoided releases based on fuel mix for national electricity energy grid.
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From page 65... ...
(10) Net greenhouse gases include CO2 emissions from combustion of fossil fuels and CH4 emissions from landfills.
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From page 66... ...
Materials and residuals collection, processing, and transport are all relatively small by comparison. Moreover, the reduction in total manufacturing energy consumption resulting from using recovered paper rather than virgin materials is much larger than the increase in energy required for collection and transport of recovered materials relative to municipal solid waste.
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From page 67... ...
Indeed, energy generation from such incineration offsets net greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities. However, much of the carbon present in landfilled waste paper decomposes anaerobically to produce methane, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas (69-fold, on a mass basis)
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From page 68... ...
Actual impacts depend on site-specific and highly variable factors, such as rate and location of releases, local climatic conditions, population densities, and so on, which together determine exposure to substances released to the environment. Such an assessment would require a detailed analysis of all sites where releases occur, which was well beyond the scope of this project (and indeed virtually any analysis of this sort)
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