New study by Swedish Environmental Research Institute shows that paper is better than plastic

IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has concluded a comparative study on the environmental performance of different packaging solutions. The study compares the lifecycles of plastic products versus corresponding paper products from BillerudKorsnäs. The results show that paper has considerably more favorable environmental qualities than plastic, such as 50-70% lower greenhouse gas emissions.

IVL’s study looks at the entire product lifecycle, from material production up until it is thrown away or recycled. Although the transportation and packaging production of plastic products emits less greenhouse gas, the results show that the overall product lifecycle of paper products give rise to far less  emissions. Material production of both paper and plastic packaging is the most energy intense part of production. But according to the study, which has been verified by Bureau Veritas, plastic production emits far more greenhouse gas than paper production.

“The results of the study challenge a common misconception that the production of paper packaging is more energy consuming and environmentally detrimental than the production of plastic packaging. An important reason why the production of the tested BillerudKorsnäs packaging materials emits less greenhouse gas is that their process is almost entirely run on renewable energy. Another reason is that the total energy consumption for production of these products is lower”, says Lena Dahlgren, project manager, IVL.

The EU parliament has recently introduced measures that will limit the use of plastic bags in Europe. The aim is to decrease their use from 200 plastic bags per person and year to 90 plastic bags per person and year before the end of 2019. Each member country will be free to decide how this goal will be achieved, but a possible solution might be to increase the use of paper bags.

“BillerudKorsnäs welcomes the EU initiative to deal with Europe’s littering problems. Paper and board packaging are not the only solutions. It is important to reduce littering, regardless of material. But given a choice between plastic and paper, we believe that our products can contribute to solutions against both plastic littering as well as climate change, two of our times largest sustainability challenges”, says Henrik Essén, SVP Communication and Sustainability, BillerudKorsnäs.

Please follow the link for the complete IVL report:  http://www.billerudkorsnas.com/PageFiles/891/Widget_Sustainability_extra/LCA%20report%20BillerudKorsn%c3%a4s%202015%20-%20Final.pdf
http://www.billerudkorsnas.com/Media/Press-releases/2015/New-study-by-Swedish-Environmental-Research-Institute-shows-that-paper-is-better-than-plastic/

Related Posts

AF&PA Applauds Senate Letter Supporting Biomass

American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman has issued the following statement regarding the letter sent today to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency from 46 of senators. The letter stated senators’ support of “biomass energy as a sustainable, responsible, renewable and economically significant energy source.” “The carbon neutrality of energy from biomass harvested from sustainably managed forests has been repeatedly recognized around the world. By using biomass manufacturing residuals, the paper and wood products industry is harnessing the energy value of the residuals before the CO2 is lost to the atmosphere through other means.

New York Times Misses the Point on Paper Recycling

A recent article in The New York Times, (“Maine Will Make Companies Pay for Recycling. Here’s How It Works.” 7/21/21) explored Maine’s dramatic new recycling law. But it also missed the point on paper recycling. In a letter to the editor, AF&PA responded to set the record straight: Telling readers the U.S. “recycling rate for plastics and paper products” is 32 percent is like telling them the average elevation of Denver and Death Valley is about half a mile. It may be technically true, but it clouds over more than it reveals. Whatever is true of plastic, the fact is that for all paper, the recycling rate was 66 percent in 2020. The recycling rate for paper-based packaging specifically—like cardboard boxes and corrugated containers—was a whopping 89 percent. In fact, more paper is recycled by weight from municipal waste streams than plastic, glass, steel and aluminum combined. In the context of a story about proposals in several jurisdictions that would turn our current recycling system on its head, these distinctions matter a great deal. Extended producer responsibility programs would disrupt the most effective recycling streams in the interest of improving the least effective, while imposing large new costs on producers who are already being responsible by investing capital to innovate and use a highly renewable and recyclable material—paper.

Kimberly-Clark switches on one of Singapore’s largest solar roofs at Tuas

Kimberly-Clark today switched on one of Singapore's largest solar energy installations at its manufacturing facility in Tuas, which produces Huggies diapers and Huggies baby wipes. The 7,730 photovoltaic panels mounted on its roof will generate 3.5 Gigawatt hours of clean energy, enough to power up a thousand 3-bedroom HDB flats for a year. With this investment, renewable energy will now replace 15% of conventional energy use at the plant, reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by approximately 1,600 metric tons per year. This is equivalent to removing nearly 350 passenger cars from roads annually. Click "read more" below for additional information.
Back To Top
×Close search
Search