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Management and Production Engineering Review
Volume 6 •Number 3 •September 2015 •pp. 47–54
DOI: 10.1515/mper-2015-0025
LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS OF TISSUE PAPER MANUFACTURING
FROM VIRGIN PULP OR RECYCLED WASTE PAPER
Aneta Masternak-Janus, Magdalena Rybaczewska-Błażejowska
Kielce University of Technology, Department of Production Engineering, Poland
Corresponding author:
Magdalena Rybaczewska-Błażejowska
Kielce University of Technology
Department of Production Engineering
Al. Tysiąclecia Państwa Polskiego 7, 25-314 Kielce, Poland
phone: (+48) 41 342-42-52
e-mail: m.blazejowska@wp.pl
Received: 22 April 2015 Abstract
Accepted: 7 July 2015 The aim of this work is to compare the environmental impacts of two production processes
of tissue paper using virgin pulp (virgin fiber) or waste paper pulp (recycled fiber). This
comparison is based on the materials and energy used as well as emissions and waste resulting
from the production of tissue paper. Life cycle assessment (LCA), ReCiPe method, was
chosen as the analysis tool. The results of the research proved that electricity has the most
considerable participation in the overall environmental impacts in both production processes,
followed by either virgin pulp or heat. Consequently, these two production processes are the
greatest contributors to the following midpoint environmental impact categories: human
toxicity, climate change, human health and ecosystems, and fossil depletion. The analysis
based on endpoint impact categories proved that the production process based on waste
paper is more environmentally friendly than the one based on virgin pulp in all impact
categories: human health, ecosystems, resources. This is largely because of its lower material
and energy requirements in the entire life cycle. Due to the fact that the tissue paper is
the final use of fiber, using recycled waste paper is strongly recommended. The obtained
research results are a valuable source of management information for the decision makers
at both company and national levels required to improve the environmental performance of
tissue paper production.
Keywords
life cycle assessment (LCA), tissue paper, recycled waste paper, virgin pulp.
Introduction
Poland produces approximately 425 000 of tissue
paper annually accounting for 13% of total paper
and board production. That makes Poland the 15th
largest tissue paper manufacturer in the world and
6th largest in the European Union, just after Italy,
Germany, France, UK and Spain [1]. The production
of tissue paper covers toilet paper, kitchen tow-
els, tablecloths, napkins and wipes, but toilet paper
dominates the market. There are nearly 300 000 of
toilet paper produce in Poland yearly, 2/3 of which
is domestically consumed [2].
Fibrous material mix is used for the production
of tissue paper in Poland, estimated at 60/40 of re-
cycled waste paper to market virgin pulp [1]. This
production of tissue paper, both of virgin pulp (vir-
gin fiber) and waste paper pulp (recycled fiber) is
associated with significant environmental impacts re-
sulting from the consumption of raw materials and
energy, as well as emissions to air, water and soil.
Considering that the processes of producing paper
from both types of masses are analogous to one an-
other, it is believed that their burdens on the en-
vironment are almost the same [3]. However, the
use of waste paper as the main raw material does
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Management and Production Engineering Review
not require an additional investment of time, en-
ergy and money, and it may also bring econom-
ic and environmental benefits. Almost each type of
used paper can be put into production again, mul-
tiplying the potential profits of entrepreneurs [4].
The production of recycled waste paper reduces the
use of forest timber, helping to conserve natural re-
sources.
This paper is divided into two main sections.
The first section outlines the environmental system
analysis method employed in the research, Life cy-
cle assessment (LCA). The second section presents
and discusses the results of LCA for the produc-
tion processes of tissue paper using virgin paper
or waste paper pulp. Only after thorough assess-
ment of the ecological balance of both manufacturing
processes, taking into account input factors (energy,
materials, water) and output factors (air emissions,
sludge, waste), it is possible to answer the question
of which of these processes is more environmentally
friendly.
The life cycle assessment (LCA) framework is
the most commonly used technique of life cycle
management (LCM) for evaluating the environmen-
tal performance of products and services. Recent-
ly, the European Commission has issued the rec-
ommendations on the use of common methods to
measure and communicate the life cycle environ-
mental performance of products and organizations
(2013/179/UE). The methods are based on LCA
methodology and, thus, cover multi criteria environ-
mental evaluation of goods and services. It is as-
sumed that LCA methods become a part of oblig-
atory regulations in the area of environmental pro-
tection, energy efficiency, green tenders, competitive-
ness and other actions contributing to the develop-
ment of green economy [2]. Consequently, the appli-
cation of LCA methodology in the Pulp and Paper
Industry may help to improve the environmental per-
formance of this sector and its products and, there-
fore, is worldwide applied [5–8].
Methodology
The study is fully in respect to international stan-
dards ISO 14040 and 14044 and consists of four phas-
es: goal and scope definition, inventory of all in-
puts and outputs related to the production processes
(LCI, life cycle inventory), assessment of the poten-
tial impacts associated with these inputs and out-
puts (LCIA, life cycle impact assessment) and in-
terpretation of the impact assessment results (see
Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Model of life cycle assessment (LCA) [9].
Goal and scope of the analysis
The main aim of this research is to determine the
environmental impacts that arise from manufactur-
ing of tissue paper using virgin pulp or waste pa-
per pulp. In doing so, the research bring several out-
comes. First and foremost, this enables the compar-
ison of the above two production processes, based
upon the same methodology (LCA) and life cycle
impact assessment method (LCIA, ReCiPe method).
As a consequence, it proves that LCA is a valuable
alternative for the modeling of current and future
tissue paper production process that can be incor-
porated into the calculation of eco-efficiency, the im-
plementation of eco-management and audit scheme
(EMAS) and eco-labeling.
The scope of the study directly stems from the
goal and thus covers two alternative tissue paper
production processes. Description of the production
processes refers to the report of “The Best Available
Techniques (BAT), Guidelines for the Pulp and Pa-
per Industry” [3].
Functional unit
The functional unit is a key element of LCA and
provides a reference to which the inputs and outputs
can be related [10]. In this LCA study, the functional
unit of the system is defined as 1 ton of produced tis-
sue paper. A special attention was paid to the func-
tional equivalency of the products since only then
their life cycles (production processes) can be com-
pared [11].
System boundaries and unit processes
The system boundaries determine which unit
processes ought to be included in the LCA study [12].
Generally, LCA is a “cradle-to-grave” approach and
covers the whole product life cycle from the raw ma-
terial extraction through the manufacturing and use
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stage to disposal. However, it can be equally applied
to the selected stages of a product’s or process’s life
cycle [13, 14].
The life cycle of tissue paper manufactured
from virgin pulp includes the following processes:
the wood logging, the pulp and chemicals making
processes, the tissue paper production, and, finally,
the use and disposal of tissue paper. In the presented
study, the system boundaries have been restricted
from the point that the main raw material has been
delivered to the mills manufacturing papers to the
point where the final products are made. The process
flows of tissue paper manufactured from virgin pulp
and the system boundaries that cover the tissue
paper production are illustrated in Fig. 2. The tis-
sue paper production has two basic units: the stock
preparation and the paper making process in the
paper machine. The stock preparation consists of
the following stages: fiber slushing, the removal of
impurities, fiber refining. Finally, the pulp is fed to
a paper machine where it is formed and most its
properties are determined.
Fig. 2. Process flows of tissue paper production from virgin pulp.
Fig. 3. Process flows of tissue paper production from recycled waste paper.
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Regarding the tissue paper manufactured from
the recycled waste paper, the complete life cycle
covers the following processes: the collection and
pre-treatment of waste paper, the tissue paper pro-
duction and the treatment of waste from the produc-
tion processes, the use of tissue paper and, finally,
its disposal. Due to the fact that a numerous of for-
mer studies proved that all the above enumerated
unit processes, despite the production phase, have
minor environmental impacts on the life cycle of tis-
sue paper, they were excluded from the analysis [10,
15, 16]. Figure 3 presents the process flows of tissue
paper production from recycled waste paper and the
system boundaries that cover the tissue paper pro-
duction. The main stages of the recycled waste paper
preparation cover: waste paper storage, repulping of
the dry recovered waste paper, mechanical removal
of impurities (screening, cleaning) and bleaching. Fi-
nally, the pulp is pumped to the storage chests that
serve as a buffer between the stock preparation and
paper machine [3].
Inventory analysis
Life cycle inventory (LCI) covers the collection
and quantification of inputs and outputs for a giv-
en product or process system throughout its life
cycle [17]. Consequently, data collection is carried
out in order to draw up a comprehensive balance of
the energy, materials and chemicals taken from the
environment that enter the system and that leave
the system as emissions to the environment [18,
19]. A summary inventory of environmental flows of
the system of tissue paper production covers: virgin
pulp or waste paper pulp, water, electricity, heat,
resin, starch and dyes (as inputs), and air emis-
sions, water emissions and solid waste (as outputs)
(see Fig. 4). All the data refer to the defined fun-
Fig. 4. The general scheme of inventory analysis of tissue
paper mill.
ctional unit that is 1 ton of tissue paper. The prima-
ry source of data was the report on “The Best Avail-
able Techniques (BAT). Guidelines for the Pulp and
Paper Industry” since the majority of Polish paper
mills producing tissue paper fulfill the environmental
requirements of BAT [3, 4].
Results and discussion
The LCA analysis of the two systems of tis-
sue paper manufacturing was done using the soft-
ware of SimaPro8 and the ReCiPe method. This
LCIA method comprises harmonized category indi-
cators at two levels: eighteen midpoint indicators (in-
cluding climate change, terrestrial acidification, fresh
water eutrophication, photochemical oxidant forma-
tion, particulate matter formation, fossil depletion)
and three endpoint indicators (Resources, Ecosys-
tems, Human Health) [20]. The indicator scores are
a measure of the environmental load of a product or
process.
In this study, the inventory (LCI) results of the
product systems are presented as the process trees
(see Figs. 5 and 6). The thickness of the line repre-
sents the total environmental load of the each process
according to the ReCiPe Endpoint score.
Fig. 5. The process tree for the tissue paper production
from virgin pulp.
Fig. 6. The process tree for the tissue paper production
from recycled waste paper.
In the case of the tissue paper made of virgin
pulp, electricity has the most considerable participa-
tion in the overall environmental impacts, followed
by virgin pulp. In total they cover nearly 80% of all
the negative impacts on the environment that occur
during the process of tissue paper production. The
usage of electricity generates as much as 56.5% of
the impact on the environment, which results from
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the energy consumption characteristic of paper in-
dustry and negative consequences arising from the
processes of electricity production. The generation
of electricity in Poland is almost entirely based on
the solid fossil fuels – hard coal and brown coal,
and therefore, it is highly burdensome for the en-
vironment, causing the production of mostly consid-
erable emission of gas pollution and constant side
combustion products. Significant amounts of energy
absorbed in order to maintain the motion of engines
in machines and devices used in the tissue paper
production process, influence degradation and pol-
lution of the natural environment. In particular, the
Through-Air Drying process (TAD) is highly ener-
gy consuming, since during that process it is neces-
sary to warm the huge amounts of air. Furthermore,
making frequent changes of grade and color of tis-
sue paper in the paper machine slightly decrease the
efficiency of raw materials’ usage, energy included.
Degradation of the natural environment in the tis-
sue paper production process also results from the
usage of virgin pulp whose production involves such
significant environmental aspects as: raw materials’
usage, including wood, the usage of chemicals and
energy, emissions to the air, emission of pollution in-
to the wastewater and the creation of the solid waste.
Considering the environmental impact of individual
input factors, it is evident that the electricity dom-
inates some impact categories, for instance human
toxicity, freshwater eutrophication, freshwater and
marine ecotoxicity, while virgin pulp dominates oth-
ers, mostly urban and agricultural land occupation,
terrestrial ecotoxicity (see Fig. 7).
Corresponding the data inventory, four inputs
were identified that have the greatest environmental
load during the tissue paper production from waste
paper. These are electricity, heat, resin and starch
(see Fig. 6). They constitute 92.08% of environmen-
tal impacts of all materials and substances used dur-
ing the manufacturing process of the tissue paper
from waste paper. Out of these four inputs, electrici-
ty consumption accounts for 73.3% and thus has the
largest contribution in the environmental impacts.
Similar trend occurs when the contribution of ener-
gy in the individual impact categories is considered
(see Fig. 8). Consequently, in all categories, despite
ozone depletion, the electricity has the largest share.
In the case of the following impact categories: hu-
man toxicity, freshwater eutrophication, freshwater
and marine ecotoxicity, urban land occupation and
natural land transformation, the share of electricity
exceeds 90%.
Fig. 7. Characterization of the tissue paper production from virgin pulp.
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Fig. 8. Characterization of the tissue paper production from recycled waste paper.
The production of tissue paper from recycled
waste paper requires large quantities of electricity
for driving the machinery (approximately one third
is consumed during thickening and dispersion) and
wastewater treatment. At the same time, a consid-
erable amount of steam is used for heating of wa-
ter, pulp, air and chemicals to the demanded process
temperature and for drying the paper. To meet the
need for electricity and steam, the tissue paper mills
either buy electricity from the public grid and gen-
erate heat internally or apply co-generated heat and
power installations (CHP). The second solution is far
more environmentally friendly, due to its high total
yield, up to 80%.
Both the tissue paper production from virgin
pulp and from recycled waste paper are the greatest
contributors to the following midpoint environmen-
tal impact categories: human toxicity, climate change
human health and ecosystems, and fossil deple-
tion, which constitute 49.85%, 15.85% and 12.65%,
and 12.35% on average, respectively (Table 1). The
achieved results confirmed that paper mills are the
source of considerable water emissions (COD, BOD),
solid waste (discards, sewage sludge) and air emis-
sions (CO2, NOX)associated with the production
of energy by burning fossil fuels. In the case of the
tissue paper made of virgin pulp, harvesting forest
lands to procure the wood for pulping makes an ad-
ditional environmental burden that contribute to the
agricultural land occupation impact category (6.5%).
Table 1
Environmental impact assessment of tissue paper production
in the midpoint impact categories.
Impact categories
Tissue
paper
from virgin
pulp
Tissue
paper
from waste
paper
Climate change
Human Health 15.4% 16.3%
Human toxicity 47.4% 52.3%
Climate change
Ecosystems 12.3% 13%
Agricultural land
occupation 6.5% 0.3%
Fossil depletion 12.2% 12.5%
Others 6.2% 5.6%
Tissue paper manufacturing from virgin pulp is
more environmentally intensive than from recycle
waste paper in all endpoint impact categories: hu-
man health, ecosystems and resources (see Fig. 9).
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As a result, the overall environmental impact of the
production process of tissue paper from virgin pulp is
larger by 0.4 Pt. Although there are plenty reasons
for such dissimilarities, the major one seems to be
use of raw materials (the wood pulp) and related to
it deforestation, fossil fuel emissions that arise from
the transportation and, finally, use of water, energy
and chemicals during pulp making process.
Fig. 9. Environmental impact assessment of tissue paper
production in the endpoint impact categories.
Conclusions
Life cycle assessment (LCA) of tissue paper man-
ufacturing proved that using recycled waste paper
instead of virgin pulp is beneficial from the envi-
ronmental point of view. Most importantly, it al-
lows reducing the consumption of wood resources
that otherwise will be lost forever, since tissue pa-
per is the last stage of the fibers’ use. To im-
prove the environmental profile of both tissue pa-
per production processes, it is recommended to
implement co-generated heat and power installa-
tions (CHP).
The results presented in this publication were ob-
tained as a result of studies carried out under the
framework of the project “Perspektywy RSI Świę-
tokrzyskie – IV etap”, No WND – POKL.08.02.02
26 – 001/12 – European Social Fund, Human Cap-
ital Operational Programme, Priority VIII Regional
human resources, Measure 8.2. Knowledge Transfer,
Submeasure 8.2.2 Regional Innovation Strategies.
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