Advertisement
Published in:
01-04-2014 | WOOD AND OTHER RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Life cycle assessment of cellulose packaging materials production: folding box board and kraftliner paper
Published in: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment | Issue 4/2014
Log inActivate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.
Select sections of text to find matching patents with Artificial Intelligence. powered by
Select sections of text to find additional relevant content using AI-assisted search. powered by
Abstract
Purpose
Many companies around the world have been challenged to make their products in a more sustainable way in the last decade in order to minimize their environmental impacts. Klabin, the largest producer, exporter, and recycler of paper in Brazil, has made great efforts to exchange old for new and more efficient equipment to produce cellulose packaging materials. The objective of this study was to measure the benefits of modernization of its plant located in the southern region of the country for manufacturing carrier board/folding box board (CB/FBB) and kraftliner paper (KP).
Methods
The goal established was analyzed through a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment methodology.
Results and discussion
The modernization carried out has led to several improvements such as the reductions measured by the functional units of 1,000 kg of CB/FBB and 1,000 kg of KP, respectively, of energy consumption (21 and 3 %), water (8.5 % for CB/FBB only), wood (6.6 and 7.2 %), and land use (6.9 and 7.1 %). The environmental impact categories (according to CML 2001) that have suffered greater reductions are human toxicity (68 and 69 %), abiotic depletion (59 and 28 %), and global warming potential (51 and 9 %) for the same reference units.
Conclusions
The results achieved clearly show the importance of renewing industrial plant in order to achieve better environmental performance and also provide a historical inventory perspective for the company to establish future targets for improvement.