Challenges in environmental assessment of new media solutions - case studies of Alma Media newspapers

Printed  newspaper  system  studied  

Content

production

Methodological  

Choices  

User  Profiles  

Assump7ons  

Data  

Generic  

Used  for  e.g.  modeling  of   users’  electronic  devices  

°Pros:  comprehensive;  

suitable  for  modeling  an   average  user  

°Cons:  less  correct  for  a  

specific  case  

Specific  

Used  for  many  processes   for  printed  newspaper,  also   electricity,  heat  and   transport  

°Pros:  specific  for  Finland  

and/or  company  

°Cons:  limited  data  –  not  all  

processes  included,  not  all   impacts  covered  

Data   Types  

Data  Age  

Data  for  electronic  devices   manufacturing  is  rather  old  

Data   Quality  

Data  sources  such  as  EPDs  

provide  limited    data   leading  to  data  gaps,   inconsistencies  or   dissimilariDes  between   data  sets    

Time  scope  

No  consensus  if  long  term   emissions  should  be  taken   into  account.  Adding   uncertainty  if  included    

Long  term   emissions  

Differences  in  reader  

prac7ces   Differences  in  the  provided  func7ons  

Func7onal   Unit  

Assump7ons  on  number  of  

readers  per  copy  and   reading  Dme  

Print  

Assump7ons  on  total  

overall  device  use  

Online   0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   0   5   10   15   20   25   30   35  

Dependence  of  Carbon  footprint  of     one  Iltaleh7.fi  reader  on    

the  total  use  a  device  

kg   CO 2   eq /   Iltal eh D. fi  re ad er  dur ing  one  y ear  

thousand  hours  of  total  use  over  the  device  life  Dme  

Inc onsis tenc y  and   unc ertain ty   Co mp lemen 7n g  r ath er   than  sub s7 tu7 ng   Varia bility   Resu lts  de pend ent  o n   choices  of  d ata,  fu nc7o nal   unit,   and   assum p7ons  

Complexity  of  

comparing  

Major  impacts  caused  by  

printed  newspaper  supply   chain  (paper  producDon,  

ink,  plates)  and  transport   Major  impacts  occur  in  

local  supply  chain  

Impact  of   Printed   Edi7on   Impact  of   Online   Edi7on  

Major  impacts  caused  by  

user  devices  (producDon  

and  use),  influenced  by  

user  behavior  

Major  impacts  occur  in  

global  supply  chain  

Challenges  in  

Communica7on  

of  Results  

Transparency   and  complexity   illustra7on   “It   depends….”   conclusion   Spr ead  supply  c hain  and   loc a7 on   of  im pac ts  

Introduc3on  

The  current  study  AIMs  to  present  and  discuss  potenDal  challenges  in  assessing  new  media  soluDons,  comparing  them,  communicaDng  and  acDng   on  the  results.  The  challenges  are  discussed  based  on  the  LCA  study  of  three  different  printed  and  online  newspapers  commissioned  by  Finnish   media   publisher   Alma   Media   in   order   to   learn   more   about   environmental   impacts   related   to   their   mature   and   emerging   products.   The   three   newspapers  studied  are  business  paper  KauppalehD,  morning  paper  AamulehD  and  evening  paper  IltalehD.  

Conclusions  

o   The  complexity  of  the  product  systems  and  challenges  that  arise  during  the  comparaDve  analysis  are  not  necessarily  a  problem   for   the   assessment,   but   they   give   an   opportunity   to   gain   more   knowledge   about   the   products   and   to   get   a   be_er   picture   of   potenDal  impacts  also  in  relaDon  to  the  variability  of  user  pracDces.    

o    Results   should   be   communicated   transparently   and   the   complexity   of   the   assessment   and   the   studied   systems   should   be   presented,  no  single  answer  can  be  given.    

o   Challenges  in  acDng  on  the  results  arise  mainly  due  to  the  new  value  chain  actors  involved,  which  are  not  directly  related  to  the   media   company.   Different   acDons   for   improvement   may   be   necessary   for   electronic   media   products,   including   new   types   of  collaboraDons      

o   Be_er  quality  data,  updated,  more  comprehensive  and  in  some  cases  more  specific,  is  necessary  for  future  LCA  studies  to  make   it  possible  to  assess  wider  range  of  impacts.  

Project  Par3cipants  

Yevgeniya  Arushanyan,  Åsa  Moberg,    

CESC  Centre  for  Sustainable  communica3ons,   KTH  Royal  Ins3tute  of  Technology,  Stockholm,  Sweden  

Catharina  Hohenthal,  Mari  Ovaskainen,  Minna  Nors  

VTT  Technical  Research  Centre  of  Finland,  Helsinki,  Finland    

Contact  

yevgeniya.arushanyan@abe.kth.se   0%   10%   20%   30%   40%   50%   60%   70%   80%   90%   100%   Climate  

change   acidificaDon  Terrestrial  eutrophicaDon  Freshwater  eutrophicaDon  Marine   ParDculate  ma_er   formaDon   Mineral   resource   depleDon   Fossil   depleDon   Kauppaleh7  print  and  online  per  reading  hour  

online  excl  long-­‐term  emissions   online  incl.  long-­‐term  emissions   print  

0%   20%   40%   60%   80%   100%   120%   140%   160%   180%  

per  year   per  reader  and  week   per  reading  hour   Carbon  footprint  of  Kauppaleh7  print  and  online  

(three  func7onal  units)  

online   print  

Online  newspaper  system  studied  

Electronic Equipment Materials Business trips Delivery, mail Energy Content production Emissions   Resources  

Poten3al  environmental  effects  

Online distribution Servers + Internet infrastructure Reading Laptop/desktop at home/office + network access device

Major  impact  occur  in  

different  impact  categories  

Challenges  in  

Ac7ng  on  

Results  

Media   influence  on   reader   prac7ces   Collabora7on   with  producers   of  electronic   devices