IN
DEGREE PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS
STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2018,
Assessing environmental impacts of a packaging product when
transitioning towards Circular Economy
TED FORSLUND
Assessing environmental impacts of a packaging product when transitioning towards Circular Economy
TED FORSLUND Supervisor
RAJIB SINHA
Examiner
CECILIA SUNDBERG
Supervisor at AB Karl Hedin OSKAR RYNO
Degree Project in Sustainable Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology
School of Architecture and Built Environment
Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Sammanfattning
Abstract
Acknowledgement
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
1.4-DCB eq 1.4-dichlorobenzene equivalents Alloc Def Allocation default
CE Circular Economy
CED Cumulative Energy Demand CFC11 eq chlorofluorocarbon-11 equivalents CO2 eq Carbon dioxide equivalents Co-60 eq Cobalt-60 equivalents Cu eq Copper equivalents EC European Commission
EPR Extended Producer Responsibility EU European Union
GHG Greenhouse Gas
GLO Global
LCA Life Cycle Assessment LCI Life Cycle Inventory
LCIA Life Cycle Impact Assessment M2a crop
eq Area time (crop) equivalents MFA Material Flow Analysis NONS Non-stop
NOx eq Nitrogen oxides equivalents Oil eq Oil equivalents
P eq Phosphorus equivalents
PM2.5 eq Particulate matter (less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers in diameter) equivalents RoW Rest of the World
S System
Figures
Tables
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
2
Fig. 1, The NONS pallet (excl. plastic cover) with carton sheet boards placed on top of the pallet (Stora Enso, 2018b).
1.2 Aim and objectives
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Circular Economy
4
2.1.1 Production
2.1.1.1 Product design
Fig. 2, Product knowledge and design freedom versus time (Karniel and Reich, 2011).
2.1.1.2 Production processes
6
2.1.2 Consumption
2.1.3 Waste management
Fig. 3, Waste hierarchy by the European Union (European Commission, 2015a)
2.1.4 Biomass and bio-based products
2.2 Extended producer responsibility
8
2.3 Closing the loop - Pallet management
3 Methodology
3.1 Material Flow Analysis
Fig. 4, illustrative view of an MFA (Baccini and Brunner, 2012)
Emissions & waste
Products An industrial
process Raw material
10
Fig. 5, Procedure for establishing an MFA according to Baccini and Brunner (2012)
3.2 Life Cycle Assessment
Fig. 6, Life Cycle Assessment Framework according to the ISO 14040 (ISO, 2018).
3.3 EcoDesign
GOAL AND SCOPE DEFINITION
INVENTORY ANALYSIS
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
INTREPRETATION
12
3.3.1 Value curve
Fig. 7, EcoDesign value curve (Luttropp and Brohammer, 2014)
4 Life Cycle Assessment modelling
4.1 Goal
4.1.1 Purpose
4.1.2 Intended application
4.1.3 Intended audience
4.2 Scope
4.2.1 Product description
Fig. 8, NONS pallet by AB Karl Hedin
14
Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
Fig. 9, Step-by-step operation of the Non-stop feeding system
4.2.2 Functional unit
Table 1, Possible variations in length, width, and deck area of the NONS pallet
Length [mm] Width [mm] Area [m2] Max Min Max Min Max Min Carton board sheet 2000 300 1600 400 3.2 0.12
4.2.3 System boundaries
4.2.4 Cut-off criteria
4.2.5 Allocation
16
4.2.5.1 Assumptions and limitations
Forest management
Sawmill
Pallet production
Distribution
Disposal
4.2.6 Impact category definition
4.2.7 Normalisation and weighting
18
4.3.1 Process flowchart
Fig. 10, Flowchart of the NONS pallet´s lifecycle 4.3.2 LCI Data
4.3.3 Forest management
Fig. 11, Sub-processes of the forest management
20
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preparation of land
Plantation of tree seedlings
Thinning and cleaning
Logging
Table 2, Description of process used in the Ecoinvent database for the forest management by AB Karl Hedin
Material Material in SimaPro Database
Pine log Sawlog and veneer log, softwood, measured as solid wood under bark {SE}| softwood forestry, pine, sustainable forest management | Alloc Def, S
Ecoinvent 3 (Wernet et al., 2016) Spruce
log
Sawlog and veneer log, softwood, measured as solid wood under bark {SE}| softwood forestry, spruce, sustainable forest management | Alloc Def, S
Ecoinvent 3 (Wernet et al., 2016)
Transportation from Forest to Sawmill in Krylbo, Avesta
22
Fig. 12, The area for raw material acquisition by AB Karl Hedin (Hedin, 2018b) 4.3.4 Sawmill
Table 3, Product and co-product allocation at the Sawmill in Krylbo Products and co-
products Amount
Unit
[m3 Solid under bark]
Allocation [%]
Sawn timber 1 m3 44.5 %
Sawdust 0.476 m3 21 %
Wood chips 0.663 m3 29,5 %
Drying factor - - 4,8 %
Total (under bark) 2.139 m3 100 %
Bark 0.239 m3 9.7 %
Total 2.465 m3
Fig. 13, Sub-processes of the sawmill operations at Krylbo sawmill
Table 4, overall energy consumption per cubic meter of sawn timber at Krylbo sawmill
Type Amount Unit Process/material in Ecoinvent 3 (Wernet et al., 2016)
Electricity 60.32 kWh/m3 Sawn timber Electricity, low voltage {SE}| market for | Alloc Def, S
Heat 295.04 kWh/ m3 Sawn timber Heat, district or industrial, other than natural gas {RoW}| heat production, softwood chips from forest, at furnace 1000kW | Alloc Def, S Diesel 1.91 litre/m3 Sawn timber Diesel {Europe without Switzerland}| market
24
Table 5, Oil and lubricant consumption per cubic meter of sawn timber at Krylbo sawmill
Type Amount per year Unit Density
[kg/m3] Amount per sawn timber [kg/m3 sawn timber]
Chain oil 43 m3 881 0.176
Hydraulic oil 10 m3 881 0.041
Grease 7231 kg - 0.033
Fig. 14, Transportation from Sawmill in Krylbo, Avesta to Pallet manufacturing site in Jularbo, Avesta (Google, 2018b).
4.3.5 Pallet Manufacturing
Fig. 15, Sub-processes of the pallet production at Jularbo
26
Table 6, Electricity and heat demand per cubic meter of sawn timber at Jularbo pallet production
Type Amount Unit Process in Ecoinvent 3 (Wernet et al., 2016)
Electricity 79.437 kWh/m3 Sawn timber for pallet production
Electricity, low voltage {SE}| market for | Alloc Def, S
Heat 0.075* kWh/ m3 Sawn timber for pallet production
Heat, central or small-scale, other than natural gas {RoW}| heat production, softwood chips from forest, at furnace 50kW
| Alloc Def, S
4.3.6 Pallet - NONS
Fig. 17, The NONS pallet by AB Karl Hedin
Table 7, Specifications for the sawn timber in the NONS pallet Length
[mm]
Width [mm]
Deck area [m2]
Sawn timber Volume [m3] 16X75
Sawn timber Volume [m3] 16X87
Sawn timber Volume [m3] 75X87
Total Volume [m3]
Weight [kg]
NONS 1000 1000 1 0.0108 0.0084 0.0051 0.0243 10.1600
Fig. 18, Draft of the NONS pallet, illustrating the dimensions of the sawn timber.
Staples and nails
Table 8, Information regarding type, amount and weight of the nails and staples for the NONS pallet.
Material Amount Weight per nail [kg]
Total weight per type[kg]
Staples Steel 27 0.002 0.054
60 mm nails Steel 18 0.003 0.054
90 mm nails Steel 18 0.007 0.117
28
Fig. 19, Transportation from Jularbo, Avesta to Stora Enso in Fors, Avesta (Google, 2018a).
4.3.7 Distribution
4.3.7.1 Disposal of the NONS pallet
Table 9, Waste scenario for the NONS pallet
5 Results
30
5.1.1 Boundaries of the study
5.1.2 Reference unit
5.1.3 Data sources
5.1.4 Uncertainty
5.1.5 Result
Fig. 20, Sankey diagram of the wooden material flow of AB Karl Hedin´s value chain (SankeyMATIC, 2018).
5.1.6 The main outcomes
32
5.2 Life Cycle Assessment
5.2.1 Life Cycle Interpretation
5.2.1.1 Cumulative energy demand (CED)
Table 10, The Cumulative Energy Demand of the NONS pallet
Impact category Unit Total Production incl. supply chain
Distribution
Scenario Disposal Scenario
Non-renewable, fossil MJ 113.14 92.27 34.72 -13.85
Non-renewable, nuclear MJ 21.29 20.43 1.56 -0.70
Non-renewable, biomass MJ 0.03 0.03 0.002 0,0003
Renewable, biomass MJ 234.08 233.76 0.30 0.03
Renewable, wind, solar, geothermal
MJ
0.76 0.64 0.09 0.03
Renewable, water MJ 7.14 6.70 0.39 0.05
Total MJ 376.4 353.8 37.1 -14.4
5.2.1.2 Recipe 2016 midpoint (H) - Characterised results
Table 11, Characterised results of the NONS pallet
Impact category Unit Total
Global warming kg CO2 eq 13.120
Stratospheric ozone depletion kg CFC11 eq
5.142E-06
Ionizing radiation kBq Co-60 eq
1.057 Ozone formation, Human health kg NOx eq
0.020
Fine particulate matter formation kg PM2.5 eq 0.008
Ozone formation, Terrestrial ecosystems kg NOx eq
0.021
Terrestrial acidification kg SO2 eq
0.023
Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq
0.001
Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1.4-DCB e 0.011
Freshwater ecotoxicity kg 1.4-DCB e
4.090
Marine ecotoxicity kg 1.4-DBC e
5.380 Human carcinogenic toxicity kg 1.4-DBC e
0.732
Human non-carcinogenic toxicity kg 1.4-DBC e 2825.256
Land use m2a crop eq
12.435
Mineral resource scarcity kg Cu eq
0.024 Fossil resource scarcity kg oil eq
2.472
Water consumption m3
0.106
34
Fig. 21, Characterised results of the NONS pallet
5.2.1.3 Production incl. supply chain
Fig. 22, characterised results of the production incl. supply chain of the NONS pallet
36 Table 12, Process contribution to ReCiPe category: Global warming
No Process
Total [kg CO2
eq]
Production incl.
supply chain of the NONS pallet [kg CO2 eq]
Distribution Scenario [kg CO2 eq]
Disposal Scenario [kg CO2
eq]
1 Municipal solid waste {RoW}|
treatment of, sanitary landfill | Alloc
Def, S 4.96 - - 4.96
2 Polyethylene, linear low density, granulate {GLO}| market for | Alloc
Def, S 1.99 1.99 - -
3 Transport, freight, lorry >32 metric ton, EURO6 {GLO}| market for | Alloc Def,
S 1.71 0.19 1.52 -
4 Municipal solid waste {RoW}|
treatment of, incineration | Alloc Def, S 1.64 - - 1.64 5 Waste polyethylene {CH}| treatment
of, municipal incineration | Alloc Def, S 0.75 - - 0.75 6 Extrusion, plastic film {GLO}| market
for | Alloc Def, S 0.56 0.56 - -
7 Steel, low-alloyed, hot rolled {GLO}|
market for | Alloc Def, S 0.45 0.45 - -
8 Transport, freight, sea, transoceanic
ship {GLO}| market for | Alloc Def, S 0.38 - 0.38 -
9
Sawlog and veneer log, softwood, measured as solid wood under bark {SE}| softwood forestry, spruce, sustainable forest management | Alloc
Def, S 0.26 0.26 - -
10 Municipal solid waste {SE}| treatment
of, incineration | Alloc Def, S 0.25 - - 0.25
Total of all processes 13.12 3.87 2.17 7.09
5.2.1.5 Sensitivity analysis
The height of the NONS pallet
Table 13, The weight of different plastic covers for the NONS pallet Weight plastic
sheet
Weight plastic cover Total Weight
NONS 1700 mm (Baseline) 0.158 0.797 0.955
NONS 1200 mm 0.158 0.578 0.736
NONS 700 mm 0.158 0.358 0.516
Fig. 23, Sensitivity analysis - plastic cover
End-of-Life treatment
38
Table 14, Disposal Scenario according to the CE action plan by the EC (European Commission, 2015b).
Waste type Waste treatment
PE plastic PE (waste treatment) {GLO}| recycling of PE | Alloc Def, S
Steel nails and
staples Steel and iron (waste treatment) {GLO}| recycling of steel and iron | Alloc Def, S
Sawn timber Waste wood, post-consumer {RoW}| treatment of, sorting and shredding | Alloc Def, S
Fig. 24, Sensitivity analysis - disposal stage 5.3 EcoDesign Roadmap
5.3.1 Assessment of existing NONS pallet
GP1: Clarify product characteristics, functional and immaterial.
GP2: Manage human resources in a responsible manner without consuming them.
GP3: Minimize hazardous substances and arrange closed-loop systems for present ones.
GP4: Ensure efficient use of material resources with little generation of waste and efficient transportation
GP5: Ensure that GP-related costs are offset by an increase in GP-related income.
GP6: Minimise energy consumption in use especially for active products.
GP7 Avoid mixing materials and adopt a clear and obvious structure of attachment joint and fraction borders.
40
GP8: Optimise the usage time of products and promote repair and upgrading.
GP9: The product must be surrounded by a corresponding environmental culture.
GP10: Ensure that the information IN the product, ON the product and FOR the product is correct and sufficient.
5.3.2 Conceptual development and recommendation
5.3.2.1 Product design improvements
5.3.2.2 Circular business model
5.3.2.3 Waste management improvements
5.3.3 Life Cycle Assessment of conceptual design
42 Table 15, EcoDesign improvements of the NONS pallet
Existing operation of the NONS pallet
EcoDesign improvement to promote CE
Number of trips (incl.
return)
10 (no) 10 (yes)
Remanufacturing No Yes, after five trips
Plastic sheet and cover - New for every trip
Wood - Repair with two deck boards and one block
after five trips (Beyer, 1998)
Steel nails and staples - 15 % addition after five trips (Beyer, 1998) Waste treatment: PE
Plastic
Disposal scenario LCA PE (waste treatment) {GLO}| recycling of PE
| Alloc Def, S Waste treatment: Steel
nails and staples
Disposal scenario LCA Steel and iron (waste treatment) {GLO}|
recycling of steel and iron | Alloc Def, S Waste treatment: Sawn
timber
Disposal scenario LCA Waste wood, post-consumer {RoW}|
treatment of, sorting and shredding | Alloc Def, S
Table 16, Comparison between exiting lifecycle (10 trips) and EcoDesign concept (10 trips) Impact category
Unit Life cycle
NONS ED Life cycle NONS ED CE
Global warming kg CO2 eq 131.20 54.73
Stratospheric ozone depletion kg CFC11 eq 5.1E-05 3.4E-05 Ionizing radiation kBq Co-60
eq 10.57 4.37
Ozone formation, Human health kg NOx eq 0.20 0.22 Fine particulate matter formation kg PM2.5 eq 0.08 0.09 Ozone formation, Terrestrial
ecosystems kg NOx eq 0.21 0.22
Terrestrial acidification kg SO2 eq 0.23 0.26
Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 0.01 0.01
Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1.4-DCB e 0.11 0.16
Freshwater ecotoxicity kg 1.4-DCB e 40.90 0.84
Marine ecotoxicity kg 1.4-DBC e 53.80 1.44
Human carcinogenic toxicity kg 1.4-DBC e 7.32 1.74 Human non-carcinogenic toxicity kg 1.4-DBC e 28250 960
Land use m2a crop eq 124.35 17.29
Mineral resource scarcity kg Cu eq 0.24 0.11
Fossil resource scarcity kg oil eq 24.72 18.05
Water consumption m3 1.06 0.75
Fig. 25, Comparison between current NONS operation and circular business model
44
Fig. 26, CED - Existing compared to new CE model 5.3.3.1 EcoDesign Value curve
Fig. 27, EcoDesign value curve
6 Discussion
6.1 Methodology
46
6.2 Results
7 Conclusions
48
7.1 Further research
8 References
50
52
i
Appendix I: Material Flow Analysis
ii
1
Appendix II: Distribution, Locations and distances to the end-
consumer
1
Appendix III: Characterised results Life cycle NONS pallet
Calculation: Analyse
Results: Impact
assessment
Product: 1 p Life cycle NONS (of project AB Karl Hedin Emballage) Method: ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) V1.00
Indicator: Characterization Skip categories: Never
Exclude infrastructure
processes: No
Exclude long-term
emissions: No
Sorted on item: Impact category
Sort order: Ascending
Impact category Unit Total Production incl.
Supply chain Distribution
Scenario Disposal Scenario Global warming kg CO2
eq 13.12
0 3.865482 2.169746 7.085078
Stratospheric ozone
depletion kg
CFC11 eq
5.142
E-06 1.4E-06 1.41E-06 2.33E-06
Ionizing radiation kBq Co-
60 eq 1.057 0.936332 0.096787 0.023644
Ozone formation. Human
health kg NOx
eq 0.020 0.009746 0.009628 0.000847
Fine particulate matter
formation kg
PM2.5 eq
0.008 0.004855 0.003339 9.96E-05
Ozone formation.
Terrestrial ecosystems kg NOx
eq 0.021 0.010305 0.009872 0.000723
Terrestrial acidification kg SO2
eq 0.023 0.011886 0.010923 0.000133
Freshwater eutrophication
kg P eq 0.001 0.000872 0.000273 0.000252
Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1.4-
DCB e 0.011 0.003187 0.007826 0.000311
Freshwater ecotoxicity kg 1.4-
DCB e 4.090 0.101549 0.026696 3.962196
Marine ecotoxicity kg 1.4-
DBC e 5.380 0.143753 0.050551 5.185892
Human carcinogenic toxicity
kg 1.4- DBC e
0.732 0.469111 0.053448 0.209656
Human non-carcinogenic
toxicity kg 1.4-
DBC e 2825.
256 96.13864 34.25877 2694.858
Land use m2a
crop eq 12.43
5 12.26888 0.139231 0.026703
Mineral resource scarcity kg Cu
eq 0.024 0.02725 0.004249 -0.00776
Fossil resource scarcity kg oil eq 2.472 2.017046 0.757858 -0.30288
Water consumption m3 0.106 0.093856 0.008562 0.004064
1
Appendix IV: Characterised results Production incl. supply chain NONS pallet
Calculation: Analyse
Results: Impact
assessment
Product: 1 p Main assembly NONS (of project AB Karl Hedin Emballage)
Method: ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) V1.00
Indicator: Characterization
Skip categories: Never Exclude infrastructure
processes:
No Exclude long-term
emissions:
No
Sorted on item: Impact category
Sort order: Ascending
Impact category Unit Total Metal Plasti
cs Wood Electri
city Heat Transp ort
Global warming kg CO2
eq
3.865 0.525 7
2.555 9
0.6531 0.1175 7.02E- 05
0.0132 46 Stratospheric ozone
depletion
kg CFC11 eq
1.4E- 06
1.63E -07
3.15E -07
6.28003 E-07
2.8E- 07
3.34E- 10
8.96E- 09 Ionizing radiation kBq Co-
60 eq 0.936 0.022
6 0.104
7 0.2127 0.5960 4.41E-
06 0.0002 79 Ozone formation. Human
health kg NOx
eq 0.010 0.001
3 0.004
9 0.0031 0.0004 1.16E-
06 1.89E- 05 Fine particulate matter
formation
kg PM2.5 eq
0.005 0.001 2
0.002 6
0.0009 0.0002 9.55E- 07
1.07E- 05 Ozone formation. Terrestrial
ecosystems
kg NOx eq
0.010 0.001 3
0.005 3
0.0033 0.0004 1.19E- 06
2E-05 Terrestrial acidification kg SO2
eq 0.012 0.002
0 0.007
0 0.0022 0.0006 6.14E-
07 2.67E- 05 Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 0.001 0.000
4 0.000
3 0.0001 0.0001 2.37E-
08 1.17E- 06 Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1.4-
DCB e
0.003 0.000 7
0.000 4
0.0015 0.0005 1.99E- 07
3.73E- 05 Freshwater ecotoxicity kg 1.4-
DCB e
0.102 0.057 8
0.016 8
0.0116 0.0151 2.2E- 06
0.0002 24 Marine ecotoxicity kg 1.4-
DBC e
0.144 0.081 4
0.023 5
0.0182 0.0203 3.5E- 06
0.0003 79 Human carcinogenic toxicity kg 1.4-
DBC e 0.469 0.391
8 0.045
7 0.0180 0.0133 3.18E-
06 0.0003 17 Human non-carcinogenic
toxicity kg 1.4-
DBC e 96.13
9 56.25
44 14.95
50 13.4934 11.134
0 0.007
052 0.2948 72
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