ISIE 2013: Strategy from green economy

by Laurent Georgeault, Guillaume Junqua, Cyril Adoue, Sabine Barles, Xavier Gabarrell, Patricia Bordin

Oral communication

By Eva Sevigné Itoiz, Carles M. Gasol, Joan Rieradevall and Xavier Gabarrell

Oral communication

MATERIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL METABOLISM OF PAPER AND BOARD RECYCLING IN SPAIN: INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND CREDITS OF CO2

As a consequence of global crisis, consumption and production of paper and board has decreased in developed countries; i.e. Europe and North America, while other countries; i.e. China, has increased considerably its demand, creating interesting dynamics of waste material flows around the world. The environmental consequences of this imbalance and how sector is adapting should be taken into account. The study of flows and stocks of materials and how they interact with the economy can be evaluated with models of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) which linked with models of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) allows to evaluate the interaction between materials and economic activity with the environment. This study evaluates the relationship between virgin pulp and waste paper in Spain with the international trade in order to evaluate the environmental impacts of import/export of flows. A MFA model for years 2006-2011 have been conducted while the environmental impacts have evaluated with a consequential Life Cycle Assessment (cLCA). Different scenarios for international trades have modeled based on MFA results and projected for long term for various marginal pulp suppliers. Results show high variability from -155 kg CO2 eq. per ton of waste paper collected, when 95% of recovered paper is consumed in Spain, to -88 kg CO2 eq. per ton when 50% of waste paper is sent to international markets and the marginal supplier is Bleached Hardwood Kraft Pulp (BHKP) from Brazil. When increasing export flows lower credits of CO2 per ton are given for Spain due to an increase of environmental impact for transports stages as well as for recycling processes and agricultural operations of pulp suppliers in other countries. Other options should be evaluated
for the paper industry in Spain in order to decrease the environmental impacts and improve the industry sector in Spain and globally.
Keywords: Material Flow Analysis (MFA), consequential life cycle assessment (cLCA), paper recycling, international market pulp, GHG emissions