LCA of Distribution in Sacks, 1996 Life Cycle Assessment Symposium Proceedings

Göran Swan,

Stora Corporate Research

Background Two European Federations involved in the paper sack business, Eurokraft (sack paper), and Eurosac (paper sacks), formed a common LCA working party a few years ago. It is chaired by G. Swan. The purpose was to study the competitive position of paper sack systems from an environmental point of view, by using the LCA methodology. Such studies had been conducted earlier by other organizations, but they were based on old and not at all representative data. This study was to be based on new and reliable data on sack paper and sackmaking. Polyethylene was also part of the study. As the study was planned to be published, not only good data were desirable, but the study was also to be carried out in an as objective and transparent way as possible in order to gain general acceptance. The study was completed during 1995, and it will hopefully be published in early 1996. A short version giving the results and interpretation will be the main publication for non-specialists, but also a complete version will be available. A short-short version of the study. Three renowned institutes were engaged; Ecobilan (France) made the inventory, Chalmers CIT (Gothenburg, Sweden) made the assessment and the report. Dr. Jeroen Guinée from CML Leyden, Holland was appointed the peer reviewer, following the study from the start. The goal was to build an LCA model of the sack distribution system, and then study different scenarios of distribution in sacks, mainly paper sacks. The intention was also to make comparisons later on with different bulk distribution systems. This has an effect on the choice of the functional unit; the distribution to the end consumer of one tonnne of filler goods. The goal was also to create a basis for strategic decisions regarding the development of sack systems. Finally, the hope was to be able to prove that paper sack systems can be friendly to the environment in a competitive way, and thus providing the federations with some good marketing arguments. The first figure shows the sack distribution systems. The PE line data were taken from the study published by the Plastic Waste Management Institute, representing weighted average data from a large share of the Western European PE industries. Only the film blowing data were collected for this study. To let the PE alternative be represented in a competitive way, the PE sacks were of the form-fill-seal type. To establish similar representation for the paper alternative, primary mill data were collected from seven integrated mills making unbleached kraft paper, and four