Calculating the carbon footprints of a Finnish newspaper and magazine from cradle to grave

Minna Nors, Tiina Pajula, Hanna Pihkola

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference article in proceedingsScientific

    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Environmental performance of a product in relation to climate change has become an interest among consumers. A carbon footprint is used as an indicator in evaluating the emissions of greenhouse gases of print products. In the following article, results from two case studies define the carbon footprint of a Finnish daily newspaper and weekly magazine throughout their entire life cycle. The significance of the carbon footprint results during the print product's life cycle is discussed. Energy needed in the pulp, paper and printing processes creates the main part of the emissions. Furthermore, transporting the product to the customer and the end-of-life phase contribute to the total result as calculated from cradle to grave. However, current methodology involves open questions and, e.g. landfill data estimations introduce variation. The calculations provide a baseline against which the development can be measured and communicated. The total carbon footprint should be expressed as a range of values rather than as a single figure.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationLife Cycle Assessment of Products and Technologies
    Subtitle of host publicationLCA Symposium
    PublisherVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
    Pages55-65
    Number of pages11
    ISBN (Electronic)978-951-38-7586-2
    ISBN (Print)978-951-38-7585-5
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2009
    MoE publication typeB3 Non-refereed article in conference proceedings
    EventSymposium on Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Technologies, LCA - Espoo, Finland
    Duration: 6 Oct 20096 Oct 2009

    Publication series

    SeriesVTT Symposium
    Number262
    ISSN0357-9387

    Conference

    ConferenceSymposium on Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Technologies, LCA
    Country/TerritoryFinland
    CityEspoo
    Period6/10/096/10/09

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