Sonoco's LCA Experience, 1996 Life Cycle Assessment Symposium Proceedings

This session consisted of four panelists: William F. Osborne (Sonoco Products Company, Inc.), Wilfred A. Coté III (International Paper), Benard R. Yaros (Scott Paper Company), and Bradley N. Johnson (Procter & Gamble). An abstract for Mr. Osborne’s presentation appears below, followed by papers from each of the other three speakers.

Sonoco began investigating the need to have in-house expertise in LCI/LCA in 1993. In 1994, Sonoco licensed both the PEMS and Eco-Manager software packages. Two LCI’s were completed using this software; one in Europe and one in the U.S. LCI/LCA activity is expected to increase in 1996 with at least 3 internal studies approved. As important as conducting studies in-house is Sonoco’s active involvement in various association activities concerning LCI/LCA and related issues such as Enviromnentally Preferred Products (EPP). Sonoco’s philosophy is to respond to regulatory and market requirements for the conduct of LCI/LCA studies both in the U.S. and Europe and to responsibly guide the development of LCI/LCA methodology by association involvement.