Abstract
Human activities extract and displace different
substances and materials from the earth's crust, thus
causing various environmental problems, such as climate
change, acidification and eutrophication. As problems
have become more complicated, more holistic measures that
consider the origins and sources of pollutants have been
called for.
Industrial ecology is a field of science that forms a
comprehensive framework for studying the interactions
between the modern technological society and the
environment. Industrial ecology considers humans and
their technologies to be part of the natural environment,
not separate from it. Industrial operations form natural
systems that must also function as such within the
constraints set by the biosphere. Industrial symbiosis
(IS) is a central concept of industrial ecology.
Industrial symbiosis studies look at the physical flows
of materials and energy in local industrial systems. In
an ideal IS, waste material and energy are exchanged by
the actors of the system, thereby reducing the
consumption of virgin material and energy inputs and the
generation of waste and emissions. Companies are seen as
part of the chains of suppliers and consumers that
resemble those of natural ecosystems.
The aim of this study was to analyse the environmental
performance of an industrial symbiosis based on pulp and
paper production, taking into account life cycle impacts
as well. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool for
quantitatively and systematically evaluating the
environmental aspects of a product, technology or service
throughout its whole life cycle. Moreover, the Natural
Step Sustainability Principles formed a conceptual
framework for assessing the environmental performance of
the case study symbiosis (Paper I). The environmental
performance of the case study symbiosis was compared to
four counterfactual reference scenarios in which the
actors of the symbiosis operated on their own. The
research methods used were process-based life cycle
assessment (LCA) (Papers II and III) and hybrid LCA,
which combines both process and input-output LCA (Paper
IV).
The results showed that the environmental impacts caused
by the extraction and processing of the materials and the
energy used by the symbiosis were considerable. If only
the direct emissions and resource use of the symbiosis
had been considered, less than half of the total
environmental impacts of the system would have been taken
into account. When the results were compared with the
counterfactual reference scenarios, the net environmental
impacts of the symbiosis were smaller than those of the
reference scenarios. The reduction in environmental
impacts was mainly due to changes in the way energy was
produced. However, the results are sensitive to the way
the reference scenarios are defined.
LCA is a useful tool for assessing the overall
environmental performance of industrial symbioses. It is
recommended that in addition to the direct effects, the
upstream impacts should be taken into account as well
when assessing the environmental performance of
industrial symbioses. Industrial symbiosis should be seen
as part of the process of improving the environmental
performance of a system. In some cases, it may be more
efficient, from an environmental point of view, to focus
on supply chain management instead.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Doctor Degree |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisors/Advisors |
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Award date | 16 Sept 2011 |
Place of Publication | Espoo |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 978-951-38-7746-0 |
Electronic ISBNs | 978-951-38-7747-7 |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
MoE publication type | G4 Doctoral dissertation (monograph) |
Keywords
- industrial ecology
- industrial symbiosis
- pulp and paper industry
- life cycle assessment
- case study
- Natural Step System Conditions
- Finland