Life-cycle thinking in the pulp and paper industry,Part 1:Current practices and most promising avenues

摘要

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool for analyzing the environmental burden of products at all stages of the life cycle.In this study,LCA applications in the pulp and paper industry were reviewed and classified into six categories:comparison of products having the same function,identification of "hot spots," comparison of process technical options,comparison of waste management options,evaluation of new products,and strategic planning and evaluation.The most sensitive application to the subjective elements of LCA is the comparison of products with the same function,for example,the comparison of paper-based and polystyrene-based egg packaging.We found that process analyses,comparisons of process options,and comparisons of ond-of-life scenarios have been performed most extensively.Because of the growing interest in environmentally conscious manufacturing,the pulp and paper industry has begun to expand its regulatory based environmental management systems to include a continuous improvement orientation.Evaluation of new products has not been reported as a major application of LCA thus far.Although only a few LCA studies related to strategic evaluation are available,this is increasingly being considered as a promising future area for LCA application.