Quantification of Greenhouse Gases at Visy Industries using Life Cycle Assessment

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are vital components of the earth’s atmosphere, trapping heat around the earth, maintaining temperatures necessary for human existence. Until the Industrial Revolution, these gases existed in a natural equilibrium with the environment. Since that time, anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel burning and land clearing have increased the quantity of GHGs, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), in the earth’s atmosphere. Evidence indicates that global warming is occurring as a result of the additional accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere. International response to climate change resulted in the 1997 development of the Kyoto Protocol. If the Protocol is ratified, developed countries will be legally bound to reduce their GHG emissions in accordance with negotiated emission reduction targets. At the beginning of the year 2001, the Protocol was still to be ratified. With the possibility of future GHG emission restrictions, some Australian companies have started quantifying their GHG emission levels. One such company is Visy Industries, the largest privately owned paper packaging manufacturing company in the world. Visy’s core business is the manufacture of cardboard boxes from recycled paper. As part of its future operations, a kraft pulp and paper mill is presently being built in New South Wales, Australia. The environmental decision support tool, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), was used to quantify Visy’s CO2 and CH4 emissions across the entire life cycle of the Visy paper recycling and virgin papermaking processes. Commercially defined LCA models were developed for both papermaking processes. GHG emissions estimated by each model were compared and the effect of different energy sources, technologies and manufacturing processes on CO2 and CH4 emissions were assessed. The majority of emissions in the two Visy papermaking models were due to fossil fuel derived energy sources and the decomposition of wood fibre in Solid Waste Disposal Sites (SWDSs). Results were used to propose appropriate GHG reduction strategies and business opportunities.