Environmental impact assessment of non-wood based pulp production by soda-anthraquinone pulping process

Paper pulp manufacturing is the main non-food industrial utilization of plant biomass. Non-wood and agricultural residues are potential raw materials in the production of specialty papers. This chapter aims to quantify the environmental impacts associated with non-wood high quality paper pulp manufacture via soda-anthraquinone (AQ) cooking process by means of the application of LCA methodology in a cradle-to-gate analysis. Hemp (Cannabis sativa) and Flax (Linum usitatissimum) were evaluated as raw materials for the production of high quality non-porous pulp. A specialty paper pulp mill was analysed in detail and process chain was divided in six subsystems: agricultural activities, chemicals production, electricity production, transport, pulp production and waste treatment. Inventory data came from interviews and surveys (on-site measurements). When necessary, the data were completed with bibliographic resources.Abiotic resources depletion (AD), global warming (GW), ozone layer depletion (OLD), human toxicity (HT), ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidant formation (POF), acidification (A) and eutrophication (E) were the impact categories analysed in this study. According to the results, the environmental impact is mainly caused by the production of chemicals, electricity and fibres (agricultural activities) due to greenhouse gases emissions, phosphorous and nitrogen compounds emissions. The activities inside the pulp mill present minor contribution to almost all impact categories, excluding GW (15%) and E (6%) as well as OLD (25%). This study provides useful information for non-wood based industries related not only to pulp manufacture but also to panels or biorefineries with the aim of increasing their sustainability.     

ECF和TCF漂白是我国非木浆行业可持续发展的方向

制浆造纸行业COD排放量占全国工业COD排放量的30%以上,而产量仅占24%的非木浆行业占污染负荷的60%以上,对我国环境污染极大。非木浆由我国国情决定而存在,在目前尚无法完全取缔非木浆企业的情况下,积极发展以ECF和TCF漂白工艺为基础的非木浆是我国制浆造纸工业持久发展的一种选择,也是我国造纸行业污染物减排的一条重要途径。     

废纸制浆造纸业环境影响评价的清洁生产分析

文章介绍了清洁生产的涵义和评价内容,明确了清洁生产分析在建设项目环境影响评价工作中的必要性。以重庆某废纸制浆造纸厂为分析对象,从原辅材料指标、产品指标、资源指标、工艺技术与装备水平、能耗指标及污染物产生指标这六个方面对该厂生产工艺进行了有效而全面的清洁生产分析,并以此探讨废纸制浆造纸厂环境影响评价中清洁生产分析的指标体系、指标权值和评价方法,为完成废纸制浆造纸行业环评过程中的清洁生产分析提供参考。     

Options to reduce the environmental impact by eucalyptus-based Kraft pulp industry in Thailand: model description

Kraft pulp industry contributes to several environmental problems, including global warming, acidification, eutrophication, smog, toxicity and the production of solid waste. The objective of this study is to identify options to reduce the environmental pressure caused by Kraft pulp industry in Thailand, and to describe a model that quantifies the environmental impact. The model can be used to evaluate the effects of the options on the environmental impact, and the associated costs. The model includes 14 groups of options to reduce emissions and the production of waste.     

A methodology for the life cycle and sustainability analysis of manufacturing processes

Life cycle assessment is emerging as a powerful tool in the evaluation of the environmental impact of manufacturing processes. This paper describes a general methodology for the life cycle analysis of manufacturing processes taking into account the flexibility and decision-making potential of knowledge base systems. Emphasis is placed on on-site waste minimisation and associated sustainability characteristics in relation to environmental impact assessment and process improvement. The ensuing software model is applied with some success to an initial study of pulp and paper manufacture.     

Impacts of international trade on carbon flows of forest industry in Finland

Finland is a forested country with a large export oriented forest industry. In addition to domestic forest extraction, roundwood is imported, thus displacing the environmental impacts of harvests. In this paper, we analyse the international carbon flows of forest industries in Finland from a consumption-based perspective. Quantitative analyses are available on trade embedded emissions of CO₂ from fossil fuel combustion, and here we address in a similar way the impact of trade on the carbon budget of the forest products sector in Finland. Carbon flows through the forest industry system increased substantially between 1991 and 2005. We show that the annual carbon balance related to forests and forest industry system in Finland functioned as a sink in 1991, whereas in 2005 the system was a sink on a national level, but not on a global level. Through calculating the carbon content in traded forest industry products and emissions embodied in forest industry activities, we further show that the direct impacts of the forest industry in Finland are only a minor fraction of the total CO₂ emissions related to Finnish production. Nearly all of the emissions were caused due to production of exports. Yet, direct carbon dioxide emissions of the industrial production are reported to Finland in the production based inventories.     

A new direction for the development of the paper industry

-In order to reduce the increasingly serious environmental impact caused by wastewater from the paper industry, the municipality of Jinan plans to adopt a specialized production technology. The new technology will centralize pulp production and decentralize paper production. It is predicted that the new technology will greatly reduce the environmental effects of the paper industry. Perhaps it is a new direction for the development of the paper industry in China.     

Environmental assessment of green hardboard production coupled with a laccase activated system

European consumption of wood-based panels reached record levels in recent years driven mostly by demand from end-use sectors: residential construction, furniture, cabinets, flooring and mouldings. The main panel types are composite boards such as particleboard, high density fiberboard (HDF), medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and other adhesively bonded composites such as plywood and wet-process fiberboard (hardboard). The synthetic resins used in their manufacture come from non-renewable resources, such as oil and gas. Several consequences are associated to this type of adhesives: variation in the availability and cost of these wood adhesives depends on raw materials, the formaldehyde emissions as well as the limited recyclability of the final product. Hence, in the search for alternatives to petroleum-based wood adhesives, efforts are being devoted to develop adhesives by using phenolic substitutes based on lignin, tannin or starch. In this context, the forest industry is increasingly approaching to enzyme technology in the search of solutions. The main goal of this study was to assess the environmental impacts during the life cycle of a new process for the manufacture of hardboards manufacture, considering the use of a two-component bio-adhesive formulated with a wood-based phenolic material and a phenol-oxidizing enzyme. This new product was compared to the one manufactured with the conventional phenol-formaldehyde resin. The study covers the life cycle of green hardboards production from a cradle-to-gate perspective, analysing in detail the hardboard plant and dividing the process chain in three subsystems: Fibers Preparation, Board Forming and Board Finishing.Auxiliary activities such as chemicals, bio-adhesive, wood chips, thermal energy and electricity production and transport were included within the system boundaries.Global warming (GW), photochemical oxidant formation (PO), acidification (AC) and eutrophication (EP) were the impact categories analysed in this study. Additionally, the cumulative energy demand was evaluated as another impact category. According to the results, four stages significantly influenced the environmental burdens of the production system: laccase production, on-site thermal energy and electricity production as well as wood chipping stage. Due to the environmental impact associated to the production of green bonding agents, a sensitivity analysis with special focus on the eutrophying emissions was carried out by evaluating the amount of laccase and lignin based phenolic material used. The combined reduction in both bonding agents may slightly reduce the contributions to this impact category. In addition, a hypothetical scenario with no laccase and with a higher concentration of the lignin based material (25% more) could improve the environmental profile in all impact categories with a reduction of 1.5% in EP.Further research should focus mainly on laccase production, in order to reduce its energy demand as well as on the amount of green adhesive required to obtain mechanical and swelling properties similar to those of conventional hardboard.     

Feeding livestock food residue and the consequences for the environmental impact of meat

The environmental impact of meat is high mainly due to the feed required by livestock in combination with the impacts of cultivating, transporting and processing of feed crops such as tapioca and grains. Like regular feed crops, livestock also feed on residue from the food industry, such as pulp, scrap and peels. Both types of raw material have different environmental impacts. Feeding food residue to livestock is an efficient way to upgrade a low quality material into high quality foods. In the Netherlands, food residue represents the majority of the feedstock for feed. Distinguishing crops from food residue has consequences for the ascribed environmental impact of meat. This paper separates these two streams using volume, environmental impact and their relevance in meat production. An assessment is made of three food industries (sugar beet industry, vegetable oil industry and potato product industry) that produce the largest stream of food residue, and of the pork industry, as an example of meat production. The environmental impact of food residue-based feed is allocated in three different ways: mass ratio, economic basis, and no assigned burden. We found that the amount of pork produced from food residue is substantial. The environmental impact of food residue-based feed is also significantly lower than grain-based feed. We discuss changes in vegetable and in animal product consumption that influence the environmental impact of pork. It is concluded that the use of current food residue keeps the environmental impact of livestock foods relatively low. However, a further increase in meat consumption would require more feed grains with a correspondingly larger environmental impact because food residues are used up.     

Expert views on environmental impacts and their measurementin the forest industry

The paper argues that corporate environmental management should be based on significant environmental aspects that result in significant environmental impacts. The Finnish forest industry has substantially reduced its emissions but, being heavy industry, it still causes significant environmental impacts. This paper presents expert views on environmental impacts and their measurement. They were gathered through semi-structured theme interviews. The most frequently mentioned environmental impacts and significant environmental impacts related to water, energy and air. Positive environmental impacts resulted from recycling, forest industry products and use of energy. Traditional emission measurement was considered a well-measured issue. The target subjects of the measurement and especially environmental impact measurement require improvement. The contribution of this research is concerned with the development of measurement and two issues arising from the research are emphasised. First, environmental impact measurement should be further developed. Second, the measurement of the production chain that is physically outside the boundaries of forest industry mills should also be developed.     

A world model of the pulp and paper industry: Demand,energy consumption and emission scenarios to 2030

This article introduces a bottom-up global model of the pulp and paper sector (PULPSIM) with a focus on energy consumption and carbon emissions. It is an annual recursive simulation behavioural model with a 2030 time horizon incorporating several technological details of the industry for 47 world regions. The long time horizon and the modular structure allow the model users to assess the effects of different environmental, energy and climate policies in a scenario comparison setup. In addition to the business as usual developments of the sector, a climate commitment scenario has been analysed, in which the impacts of changing forest management practices are also included. The climate scenario results reveal that there is a significant carbon reduction potential in the pulp and paper making, showing a number of specific features: the central role of the fibrous resource inputs and the potential impact of increased waste wood and black liquor based heat generation.     

Feasibility of rice straw as a raw material for the production of soda cellulose pulp

The main objective of this work is to evaluate the suitability of rice straw and soda–anthraquinone (soda–AQ) pulping process to produce pulp and paper. To reach this aim, it was used a central composite factorial design to study the influence of operational variables (temperature (155–185 °C), cooking time (30–90 min), soda concentration (10–20%), anthraquinone concentration (0–1%) and liquid/solid ratio (6–8)), in soda–anthraquinone cooking of rice straw on pulps and paper sheets properties obtained.Based on the yield values obtained, nearly one half of the raw material can be efficiently converted into cellulose pulp and paper sheets. Also, the Kappa number/viscosity ratio of the pulp facilitates its efficient bleaching. Finally, based on the values for above-described physical properties, the pulp can be used to obtain paper or board and recycled paper (as % virgin fibre).In Spain are produced annually 757,000 t of rice straw. If we considered an average yield process of 45%, it would be possible to obtain 340,000 tons of pulp. These tons would be absorbed by the market taking into account the necessities in cellulosic pulp consumption.     

Application of life cycle assessment to the Portuguese pulp and paper industry

In this paper, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is applied to Portuguese printing and writing paper in order to compare the environmental impact of the use of two kinds of fuels (heavy fuel oil and natural gas) in the pulp and paper production processes. The results of inventory analysis and impact assessment show that the pulp and paper production processes play an important role in almost all of the analysed parameters, which do not always result in an important contribution to the corresponding impact categories. The substitution of heavy fuel oil by natural gas in the pulp and paper production processes seems to be environmentally positive.     

Deployment of Trichoderma harzianum WL1 laccase in pulp bleaching and paper industry effluent treatment

The ability of Trichoderma harzianum WL1 crude laccase and the fungal system for the biobleaching of wastepaper pulp and treatment of paper industry effluent was investigated. Three different modes of treatment, enzyme, enzyme-alkali and enzyme-EDED were employed for the bleaching of wastepaper pulp. The process parameters such as treatment period, pulp consistency, temperature and enzyme charge had a great influence on the quality of paper pulp. The paper industry effluent was subjected to eight different treatments via. aerobic, anaerobic, fungal and combination of these treatments. Fungal followed by anaerobic treatment was found to be effective in paper industry effluent treatment.     

Implications of regulation based on the IPPC directive – A review on the Finnish pulp and paper industry

This article evaluates the impacts of integrated environmental permits on the environmental performance of Finnish pulp and paper industry. It assesses the performance of the Finnish pulp and paper mills in relation to the EU best available techniques (BAT) associated emission levels and compares the emission limit values and product specific emissions of the mills with non-integrated permits to those of the mills with new integrated permits. A set of practical indicators for the assessment of BAT, local conditions and transboundary effects is presented and discussed. Moreover, the paper highlights some significant cross-media aspects in the Finnish pulp and paper industry.     

Future trends in environmental impact of eucalyptus-based Kraft pulp industry in Thailand: a scenario analysis

This study explores possible future trends in the environmental impact of the Kraft pulp industry in Thailand between 2000 and 2020. Scenarios were developed to analyze the effect of different options to reduce the future environmental impact, and the costs associated with the implementation of these options. The analysis indicates that without currently applied reduction options the environmental impact would be twice as high as it currently is. For a Business-as-Usual scenario, in which no additional pollution reduction options are assumed to be implemented, the overall environmental impact is calculated to increase between 2000 and 2020 by a factor of two. Next, five Environmental Policy scenarios reflecting different strategies were defined to reduce the environmental impact. The results indicate that it is theoretically possible to reduce the overall environmental impact by almost 50% relative to the BAU 2020 levels. This scenario, however, may not be feasible because of the high costs involved. Four other Environmental Policy scenarios result in a reduction of the impact by 24–37% relative to the BAU scenario. Based on these results, it can be concluded that there are different ways to reduce the overall environmental impact by about one-third relative to BAU trends. Relatively large differences in the costs of the options included in the scenarios were also observed. We conclude that combining the most cost-effective options may be the most interesting strategy for reducing the overall environmental impact of Kraft pulp industry in Thailand.     

我国典型非木浆造纸二噁英排放研究

根据《中国履行〈关于持久性有机污染物的斯德哥尔摩公约〉国家实施计划》,制浆造纸行业是我国开展二英履约减排的六大重点行业之一,需要在规定的时间内达到减排要求.非木浆在我国原生纸浆生产和消费中一直占有重要比例,其生产过程中广泛使用的元素氯漂白工艺被认为是造成制浆造纸行业二噁英产生的重要来源.非木纤维制浆将在我国长期存在,摸清该领域二噁英排放情况,对于我国履约和实施二噁英的减排措施有重要意义.通过对竹子、麦草、芦苇和蔗渣这4种非木纤维的典型制浆企业的漂白全过程开展二噁英排放情况的检测,并结合各企业的浆水平衡数据,得到我国应用氯化碱处理次氯酸盐(CEH)三段漂白典型工艺的草浆、苇浆、竹浆及蔗渣浆生产的外排水所含二噁英的浓度(以I-TEQ计,下同)分别为:41.8、72.7、7.46和19.7 pg.L-1,尽管都在国家规定的新排放标准附近(30 pg.L-1),但随着我国对制浆造纸行业吨耗水要求的日益严格和以上新标准的实施,相关浓度很容易超标.为了实现国内、国际环境管理的要求,认为我国有必要尽快推动该行业研究并应用二噁英减排的最佳可行技术和最佳环境实践(best available techniques/best environmental practices,BAT/BEP).同时,结合监测数据,还初步估算了非木浆元素氯漂白相关的二噁英排放因子,可为联合国环境署补充相关因子提供有意义的参考.     

国内外造纸行业水污染排放标准比较研究

中国是造纸大国,制浆造纸在中国属于重污染行业。2008年国家发布的《制浆造纸工业水污染物排放标准》对整个行业可能排放的污染物提出了要求。本文通过将该标准与国外造纸行业相关的水污染物排放标准进行比较研究,找出我国标准与国外的差别,并为完善我国造纸行业水污染物排放标准提出建议。     

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD): causes,treatment and case studies

This paper describes Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) generation and its associated technical issues. As AMD is recognized as one of the more serious environmental problems in the mining industry, its causes, prediction and treatment have become the focus of a number of research initiatives commissioned by governments, the mining industry, universities and research establishments, with additional inputs from the general public and environmental groups. In industry, contamination from AMD is associated with construction, civil engineering mining and quarrying activities. Its environmental impact, however, can be minimized at three basic levels: through primary prevention of the acid-generating process; secondary control, which involves deployment of acid drainage migration prevention measures; and tertiary control, or the collection and treatment of effluent.     

淮河流域非木浆制浆造纸业的发展研究

由于淮河流域水环境污染严重，国家已将造纸业特别是小造纸列为淮河流域水环境重点治理对象之一。淮河流域造纸业多为草浆制浆，具有技术，经济与污染治理的特殊性。结合我国造纸工业发展历程和行业现状以及面临的挑战，分析国内及淮河流域制浆造纸业的产业结构，技术结构和环境影响，阐述麦草在我国制浆造纸业中的战略地位，提出淮河流域草浆制浆业的结构重整建议，探讨淮河流域造纸业可持续发展的途径。