VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
It is of high importance that the data which isused from generic LCA databases (e.g. ecoinvent) are recent as well as representative for the kind of material used. Paper and board are complex materials that appear in different types suitable for the various applications. This document is set-up to assist LCA experts in finding the right data belonging to the type of paper and board studied.
General advices: It is not advisable to use the data from European Life Cycle Database (ELCD) as these data are incomplete and also only ‘cradle to grave’: these are aggregated data hence difficult to identify where impacts come from and thus hardly usable for comparisons or to change for specific situations. Of all other generic databases ecoinvent is the most complete and current database. Other public datasets (e.g. GaBi, Base Impacts and ProBas) are less current and less easy to interpret from a user point of view. For LCA assessments on paper and board produced in the Netherlands it is essential to replace the input of the European average enery mix with input the Dutch energy mix. (NB this is not possible with ELCD as these allow no changes at all).
Packaging paper
Paper for corrugated board - Papier voor golfkarton
Description Corrugated board (in Dutch: golfkarton) is the most commonly used transport packaging. Corrugated board consists of one or more layers of corrugated paper, in combination with one or more layers flat paper. The corrugated paper is called fluting or medium. The flat papers are called liners. Depending on the required properties different amounts and kinds of paper layers are used. The CEPI Containerboard list of grades1 includes: Liners: Brown kraftliner White top kraftliner White coated kraftliner Brown testliner Brown kraft top liner White top testliner, uncoated Mottled testliner White top testliner, coated
1 Downloaded January 2017 from http://www.cepi-containerboard.org/
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
The kraftliners are predominantly made of primary kraft pulp, testliners are predominantly recycled fibre based paper.
Flutings-Medium Semi-chemical fluting Recycled fluting-medium Light weight recycled medium (LWM) A semi-chemical fluting is predominantly made from semi-chemical primary fibres pulp. Recycled fluting-medium (also known in databases as Wellenstoff) is a predominantly recycled fibre based paper.
Dutch production sites In the Netherlands paper for corrugated board is produced by: Smurfit Kappa Roermond Papier DS Smith Paper de Hoop Parenco Papierfabriek Doetinchem
LCA data - sources Databases either contain data for the liner or fluting that is still to be converted into corrugated board . The most up to date LCA data for corrugated board is available at the respective European associations. CEPI Containerboard (CCB) and FEFCO publish a joint report and data every three years. The last one (2014 data) is available on www.fefco.org/sites/default/files/lca-report-2015.pdf. The report contains 4 datasets with average European data with high degree of representativeness (more that 60% of the production represented) and of high quality as they have been externally peer-reviewed. Two datasets represent the production of liner, one for virgin material, and the other from recycled material, two datasets represent the production of fluting, one for virgin material, and the other for recycled material. The kraftliner dataset is a combination of the kraftliner grades, testliner of testliner grades and Wellenstoff is recycled fluting-medium.
LCA data in ecoinvent are available for the four grades. At this moment (October 2017) this is data from the year 2009, but it is in the process of updating to 2015 data. For the paper for corrugated board produced in the Netherlands only two categories are relevant: ecoinvent: treatment of recovered paper to linerboard, testliner ecoinvent: treatment of recovered paper to fluting medium, wellenstoff
When using the data from the CCB-FEFCO or ecoinvent data on paper produced in the Netherlands it is recommended to make them more representative by substitution of the input of average electricity grid mix and natural gas to the input for these processes for the Netherlands.
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
1.1 Cartonboard - Vouwkarton
Description Cartonboard (in Dutch: vouwkarton) is suitable for small to medium sized boxes that are used to pack a wide variety of products. Cartonboard is often used in the food industry. Cartonboard is made from cellulose containing fibres that are produced either from wood or from recovered paper and board. A combination of the two can be used and there are various types of fibre that produce different characteristics. Cartonboard is roughly categorised in four grades:
o Solid Bleached Board (SBB) This grade is typically made from pure bleached chemical pulp with two or three layers of coating on the top surface and one or more layers on the reverse. There are also uncoated grades. Typical markets include cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, graphics, tobacco and luxury packaging.
o Solid Unbleached Board (SUB) This grade is typically made from pure unbleached chemical pulp with two or three layers of coating on the top surface. In some cases a white reverse surface is applied. It is primarily used as beverage carriers for bottles and cans, as it is very strong and can be made resistant to water. It is used where strength of packaging is important.
o Folding Boxboard (FBB) This grade is typically made of mechanical pulp sandwiched between two layers of chemical pulp with up to three layers of coating on the top or printing surface and one layer of coating on the reverse. Typical uses include pharmaceuticals, confectionery, frozen and chilled foods.
o White Lined Chipboard (WLC) This grade is typically made using predominantly recovered paper or recovered fibres. It is manufactured in a number of layers, each of which use selected grades of raw materials. It typically has three layers of coating on the top or printing surface and one layer on the reverse. It is used in a range of applications such as frozen and chilled foods, cereals, shoes, tissues, toys.
The most commonly used types are WLC and FBB (resp. 50 and 36 per cent of the market).
Dutch production sites In the Netherlands the FBB-type of cartonboard is produced by Mayr-Melnhof in Eerbeek. The other three cartonboard grades are not produced in the Netherlands.
LCA data sources The most up to date LCA data for carton board is available on demand at European association Pro Carton. Pro Carton maintains a database similar to CEPI Containerboard. However, the data from Pro Carton are an average of the four grades and include the box production, FBB being only about one third of the covered production. Ecoinvent contains older (2000) and non-sample-based data, but as it is broken down for each of the four grades of carton board, these data-sets are more representative than the up-to-date average:
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
Abbreviation ecoinvent – name of dataset Netherlands production WLC chipboard production, white lined RER no FBB folding boxboard production RER Mayr-Melnhof SBB solid bleached board production RER no SUB solid unbleached board production RER no
So for the Dutch cartonboard production it is best to use the ecoinvent-dataset ‘folding boxboard production RER’. When using the dataset data on cartonboard produced in the Netherlands it is recommended to make them more representative by substitution of the input of average electricity grid mix and natural gas to the input for these processes for the Netherlands.
1.2 Solid board (massiefkarton)
Description Another name for solid board is ‘grey board’. It consists of many layers of paper which are pressed in wet condition towards a thick board with grammages > 600 g/m2. The layers are made from recovered paper. At one or both sides of these layers special papers can be glued to achieve special properties (moisture barrier, stiffness, visual, etc.).
Solid board is also used for graphical applications (e.g. hard book covers, puzzles and board games). NB. Solid board is NOT to be confused with the SBB (solid bleached board) and SUB (solid unbleached board) categories of folding box board. Solid board is made from recovered paper and has high grammages. SBB and SUB are low grammage cardboard types produced from virgin fibres.
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
Dutch production sites In the Netherlands, solid board products are produced by Smart Packaging Solutions, Solidus Solutions and Eska.
LCA data - sources There is no public available LCA data on solid board. The information is not in ecoinvent, nor in any other database. The European association, ESBO (European Solid Board Organisation) does not exist anymore. Best is to use mill specific data for any LCA analysis data. Best approximation with public data is use the Ecoinvent or CBB-FEFCO data for the corrugated board base paper excluding the addition of starch. When using the data from the CCB-FEFCO or Ecoinvent data on paper produced in the Netherlands it is recommended to make them more representative by adjusting them to the Dutch energy mix.
1.3 Molded fibre products (vormkarton)
Description Molded fibre (vormkarton), also named molded pulp is a 3D packaging material, typically made of recovered paper. It is used for protective packaging or for food service trays and beverage carriers.
Dutch production sites In the Netherlands molded fibre products are produced by Huhtamaki.
LCA data sources There is no public available LCA data on molded fibre products. The very best is to use mill specific data for any LCA analysis data as there is no good proxy with public data of other types of paper and board. Second best is to use the Ecoinvent or CBB-FEFCO data for the corrugated board base paper excluding the addition of starch, though resulting impacts will on average be at least 40% higher than actual impacts. This is excluding the additional effect of using the Dutch energy mix instead of the input from the European average energy mix.
1.4 Graphic paper (grafisch papier)
Description Graphic paper (grafisch papier) is used for books, magazines, newspapers, art, envelopes, as well as wallpaper. Graphic paper comes in many shapes and sizes, and grammages (ranging from 40 to 400 g/m2).
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
The environmental impact of graphic paper depends on a number of properties Bleached or unbleached Recycled or virgin Wood or wood-free (with or without lignin) Coated or uncoated
It is also important to distinguish between whether the paper is produced in an integrated mill (paper is produced on the same site as where the pulp is produced) or in a non-integrated mill (using dried pulp from another production site).
Dutch production sites In the Netherlands, graphic paper (and board) is produced by Sappi, Coldenhove Papier and Crown Van Gelder, and graphic recycled paper is produced by Papierfabriek Doetinchem. These mills are all non-integrated.
LCA data sources ELCD includes a fairly recent graphic paper dataset, though this dataset is calculated as weighted average of several graphic paper grades according to production amounts; 22,2% Newsprint, Uncoated mechanical paper 15,4%, Coated mechanical paper 20,2%, Uncoated woodfree paper 21,8%, Coated woodfree paper 20,5% . As this dataset also includes newsprint, ELCD is not representative for or comparable to the VNP data on graphic paper production. Ecoinvent also contains older datasets (2000) that distinguish between non-integrated and integrated mills, coated and uncoated paper, wood-containing vs wood-free paper. Fairly recent (2009) and average sample-based dataset was added to ecoinvent for recycled paper. Some of the ecoinvent datasets are relevant to the Netherlands, others are not (see table below). mapping of graphic papers in ecoinvent vs Netherland production ecoinvent – name of dataset Netherlands production paper production, woodcontaining, no lightweight coated RER paper production, woodcontaining, no supercalendred RER paper production, woodfree, coated, at no integrated mill RER paper production, woodfree, coated, at non- Sappi, Crown Van Gelder, integrated mill RER Coldenhove Papier (transfer paper) paper production, woodfree, uncoated, at no integrated mill RER paper production, woodfree, uncoated, at Sappi, Crown Van Gelder, non-integrated mill RER Coldenhove Papier (graphic paper) Graphic paper production, 100% recycled, Papierfabriek Doetinchem RER
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
The dataset for wood free coated and uncoated graphic paper are representative for the Dutch graphic paper production: ecoinvent: paper production, wood free, coated, at non-integrated mill RER ecoinvent: paper production, wood free, uncoated, at non-integrated mill RER
For 100% recycled paper it is recommended to use mill specific data with Dutch background processes for natural gas and grid electricity. The ecoinvent dataset is not a good proxy because of the difference in fuel input and the large difference in the amount of grid electricity that is used in the process.
1.5 Hygiene paper
Description Hygiene or tissue paper is a lightweight paper or, light crêpe paper that is used for hygiene applications. Applications are for example: Toilet paper Kitchen paper Facial tissues Industrial cleaning paper Paper towels Table napkins The ecological footprint depends on the kind of application.
Dutch production sites In the Netherlands hygiene paper is produced by Van Houtum and Essity.
LCA data sources The only LCA data for tissue paper is available in ecoinvent. However, it is data from the year 2000, collected from a few producers, and it has not been, to our knowledge, third party reviewed. The data are hardly comparable with the Dutch production sites, though on average a fair LCA assessment can be performed with the ecoinvent dataset: tissue paper production RER
1.6 Specialty papers
Description There are many special sorts of paper and board, which cannot be categorised under the general types described above. These specialty papers are generally produced in low amounts in specialty paper mills. An overview of many specialty paper and boards can be found on http://papierenkarton.nl/papier--en-karton-soorten/speciaal-papier-en-karton
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products
Dutch production sites In the Netherlands, specialty paper is produced by Schut Papier (artists paper, coloured paper with high ASTM, security papers), Coldenhove Papier (e.g. digital transfer paper, digital decor paper, sterilisation paper), VHP Security Paper (security papers, especially for bank notes) and Meerssen Papier (coloured paper, security papers, labels)
LCA data sources There is no general public data available for specialty papers, as these normally are produced by only a few mills. For each of those applications it is advised to use mill specific data.
VNP Guidelines - LCA data for paper and board products