UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report An Investigation into the feasibility of wheat versus wood fibre paper for UBC Wing Cho Cheung Jeffrey Nam Chung-Chih (Kenny) Yen University of British Columbia APSC 262 March 29, 2012 Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report”. THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Department of Applied Science SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT REPORT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE FEASIBILITY OF WHEAT VERSUS WOOD FIBRE PAPER FOR UBC prepared by Wing Cho Cheung Jeffrey Nam Chung-Chih (Kenny) Yen in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for APSC 262 – Technology and Society II Tutorial Instructor: Dr. Paul Winkelman Date submitted: 29 Mar 2012 APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 ii Abstract The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a leader on sustainability and is currently investigating the feasibility of using wheat fibre paper in lieu of the current 30% post consumer waste wood fibre paper. To examine this matter, a triple bottom line assessment for has been conducted. The triple bottom line assessment includes the investigation of social, environmental, as well as economic aspects of the use of both types of paper through various indicators for each category such as labour conditions, carbon emissions, and cost differences. Through extensive research from sources such as journal articles, online materials and other published reports, surveying users for an evaluation of the performance of both types of paper, as well as interviewing experts in the production of the wheat fibre paper, a significant amount of information and useful data has been gathered. From the investigation, the following observations can be made. First, the overall social aspects such as labour conditions, social awareness, and local resource distribution of the wheat fibre paper meet all the requirements from UBC’s Supplier Code of Conduct. Second, the ecological footprint of the wheat fibre paper during its entire lifecycle is significantly less than that of the 30% PCW wood fibre paper. Third, replacing wood fibre paper with wheat fibre paper at UBC has minimal economic impact on the local scale. Based on the findings from the investigation, it is determined that the utilization of wheat fibre paper at UBC is viable and that the replacement of 30% PCW wood fibre paper with wheat fibre paper is recommended. APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... ii List of Tabl es ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... iv Glossar y ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. v List of Abbr eviations ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... vi 1.0 INTR ODUCT IO N ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 1 2.0 SOC IA L IMP ACTS OF WHEAT F IBR E PA P ER ................................ .................... 2 2.1 Labou r Condit ions ................................ ................................ ................................ 2 2.2 Social Aware ness ................................ ................................ ................................ . 2 2.3 Loc al Re sourc e Dist ributi on a nd Demand ................................ ........................... 3 2.4 Feedb ack f rom Cons umers ................................ ................................ ................... 3 3.0 ENV IR ONMENT A L ASS ESS MENT OF WHEAT F IBR E PAP ER ........................ 4 3.1 S ourcing o f Materials ................................ ................................ ........................... 4 3.2 Ecologic al Footprint ................................ ................................ ............................. 5 3.3 Disp osal ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 7 4.0 ECONOM IC ANA LS YS OF WHEAT FIB R E PAP ER ................................ ............ 8 4.1 Importi n g Method ................................ ................................ ................................ 8 4.2 Manufacturin g M ethod ................................ ................................ ......................... 8 5.0 CONC LUS IO NS AND RECOMMENDAT IONS ................................ ................... 10 R EFERENCES ................................ ................................ ................................ ................. 11 APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 iv List of Tables Table 1 – Comparison of 30% PCW Wood Fibre Paper and Wheat Fibre P aper Table 2 – Economi c An a l ysis of Retrofit ti ng a Pla nt APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 v Glossary Carbon sink A natural reservoir that accumul ates and stor es carbon cont aini ng compounds . Defor estatio n Removal of a for est or stand of tre es . Eucal yptus trees Can be replenished eve r y 7 years; unli ke for est trees, which tak es over 50 years . APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 vi List of Abbreviations BTU Britis h thermal unit CO 2 Carbon diox ide FSC Forest Stewa rdship Council GHG Greenhous e gasses IRR Inte rnal rate of return PCW Post consumer waste UBC Universit y of Briti sh Columbi a APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION W it h the risi ng concerns for sust ainabili t y, the Uni versit y of Britis h Col umbia (UBC ) is looki ng to improve its co ntribut ion towards the social, environmental, and economi c aspe cts of sust ainabili t y . Cur rentl y, the UBC Sustainabil it y Progr am is turning its attenti on to the usage of paper on campus . In order to satisfy UBC’s demand for paper, s eve ral hun dred tonnes of tr ees needs to be harvested an d processed ever y ye ar . In order to see k an alt e rna ti ve, the use of whe at fibre pap er is investi gate d for its feasibi li t y comp ared to the 30% PCW wood fibre pap er. Wheat fibre pap er is manufa ctur ed without the need fo r deforestatio n. Howeve r, further res ear ch must be conducted in ord er to just if y its viabil it y not on l y environment all y, but s ociall y and economi call y as well . In order to compa re the s e two opti ons, several grou ps of students in APS C 262 course have been given an oppo rtunit y to anal y z e the feasibi li ti es for both t yp es of paper. This report is divided into the foll owing se cti ons: In secti on 2 , the possibl e social impacts due to impor ti ng wh eat pape r from India to repla ce the local wood fibre paper is ex plored . In secti on 3 , the environ mental impacts for both the wheat fib re pap er and the 30% PCW wood fibre pap er in a life c ycle anal ysis is compa red . In secti on 4 , the economi c impact s due to the ch an ge in the busi ness fo r pap er industr y in the long run is ex ami ned . Finall y, we dr aw con clusi ons and offer rec omm endati ons. APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 2 2.0 SOCIAL IMPACTS OF WHEAT FIBRE PAPER The social impacts whe at fibre pap er ma y brin g in clude the labour condit ions throughout producti on, the social aw areness raised on sust ain abil it y iss ues, and the loc al resourc e dist ributi on and demand. 2.1 LABOUR CONDITIONS The labour condit ion thr ough the producti on of th e wheat fib re p ap er is stri ctl y prote cted by the laws in India. According to Mint o, since India has been manu fa cturing goods fo r such a long time, their labour laws have dev eloped thoro ughl y and a well - est abli shed, or ganiz ed and strict s ystem hav e result e d. UBC’s Suppl ier Code of Conduct states that ch il dren under the age of 15, or 1 4 whe re the Int ernati onal Labou r Or ganiz ati on ex empt ion for developi ng countri es all ows, and for ced labour could not be hired. In 1954, Indi a has amend ed i ts Factories Act (Bru ce , 1970) to aboli sh the be ggar s ystem and bo nded labour, as well as to divert chil dren from the field of labour to sch ools, and to ensure a heal th y environment for their all - round developm ent. The Indi a n gove rnment also e nsur e s that workers have a go od and healt h y wo rking environment. Based on the abov e, Ro ya l Printers has demonstrate d that the y me et the requirements of UBC’s Supplier Code of Conduct. 2.2 SOCIAL AWARENESS If the whe at fibre paper is adapted in UBC, social awar eness on sustainabil it y iss ues will be rais ed. Sin c e UBC is a lar ge and influenti al insti tut ion , UBC can establi sh a posit ive public image b y demons trati n g to the publi c the sustainab il it y proj ects U BC partici pates in as one of the leading or ganiz ati ons on sust ainabili t y amon g Nor th America. Hop e full y as a result from this, others will begin posit ive l y contribut in g to the soc iet y in orde r to make our societ y mor e sust ainable. In fact, as an ex ampl e, the Canadian Geo graphic Ma gaz ine (E dwards, 2008) has alread y be gun print ing th eir ma gaz ine on whe a t fi bre pape r, not onl y to cut down their ecolo gic al footprint but also to improve their publi c ima ge as well . Accordin g to Mint o, empl o ye es from their compan y can feel the pride for havin g such j ob s . The y can proudl y go home after work and APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 3 tell their fami li es and frie nds that the y are wo rking not just to make mone y, but also to contribut e to the environment and t o help b uil d a gr een er an d more sust ainable societ y. 2.3 LOCAL RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION AND DEMAND The adapt at ion of th e wh eat fibre paper in UBC wil l incur a lar ge dem and in the paper indus tr y while the deman d for 30% PCW wood fibre pape r wil l decr eas e. In addit ion, the chanc e for causin g un empl o yme nt in local wood fibre pul p mill s will be made up by empl o yment opportuni ti es from whe at paper produ cti on. Although no loc al pul p mill s have invested in whe at paper produ cti on curr entl y, the wh eat fibr e pap er must be shipp ed from In dia and thus does not quite meet the requirement on Metro Vancouver’s “Sustainability Purchasing Guide”. How ever, if the demand for wheat fibre pape r incre ases, then the local wood fibr e pulp mill s will start investi ng in wheat p aper producti on and the requir ement from the guideline s will be met. 2.4 FEEDBACK FROM CONSUMERS To see wheth er wh eat fib re pape r per for ms diff ere ntl y from the 30% PCW wood fibre paper, surv e ys and an al ysis have been conducted for both t yp es of pap er . Our group print ed materials ont o the whe at fibre pap er with bot h inkj et and laser printer s to co nduct a per formanc e test. Fault s such as pap er jams did not occur and th e print qualit ies are deter mi ned to be comparable for both t ype s of paper. In addit ion, both t ypes of paper wer e handed out to a sample group of 20 participants who do not know the two t ypes of pape r ar e diffe r ent. The ir fe edba cks on the two types o f pape r are then reco rded. Th e consensus of the whe at fib re pape r is that is a bit brownish and slightl y thi nner compar ed to the 30% PCW wood fibre paper. Althou gh whe at fibre pap er and 30 % PCW wood fibre pape r ar e differenti abl e , from usa ge on a dail y bases, th e differen ces are ne gli gibl e . Thus adapti ng th e whe at fibre pap er would not affe ct the users. APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 4 3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF WHEAT FIBRE PAPER To investi gate th e enviro nmental aspects of the triple bott om line assessment for 30% PCW wood fib r e pap er versus wheat fibr e pape r, the so urcing of raw materi als, the ecolo gic al footprint s, as well as the methods of disposal for both t ypes of paper are ex ami ned. 3.1 SOURCING OF MATERIALS Each ye ar, UBC consum es approx im atel y 53 mill ion sheets of letter siz ed paper. Since each sheet has a mass of appro x im atel y 5 gr ams, 53 mill ion sheets of paper would translate to a mass of 265 ton ne s! Currentl y, UBC is comm it ted to using pap er wit h a minim um of 30% post consum er wast e (PCW ) material. Accordin g to the Paper Calcul ator, i n order to produc e 265 ton ne s of this t ype of pap er, 693 to n n e s, or approx im atel y 4800 tre es, are needed. After a for est tree has b een ha rvested, i t takes over 50 years fo r the tree to gro w back to it s original siz e. As a result , harvesti n g 4800 tr ees each ye ar fo r pape r producti on has a si gnifica nt impact on the environment. Ro yal Social Print util iz es the residue waste of wh eat stock, alon g with a small porti on of Forest Stewa rdship Council (FS C ) ce rtified euc al yptus tree fib r e s to produ c e wheat p aper. Th e portion of the wheat stoc k used to produce wh eat fibre pap er would other w ise go to waste and thus does not a ffe ct the human and anim al food ch ain, as well as biofuel p r oducti on. In order to produce one ton n e of unb leached pulp on a bone dr y basis , 2.8 ton ne s of wheat straw are needed (Fix , J ., Rees, W.E. , 2007) . There is an abundant amount of wheat stra w avail able from the Prairie provinces in Can a da ea ch yea r, approx im ati ng 13 - 20 mill ion ton ne s (Inform, 2009) . This means that 4.6 to 7.4 mil lion to n n e s of wheat fibr e paper, dramaticall y gr eat er than what UBC co nsum es annuall y, can be yi elded ev er y ye ar. For structur al ri gidi t y, R o yal Social Print cur rentl y empl o ys a design with a specific ati on of 80% wheat str aw, and 20 % eucal yptus tree fib r e s. Eucal yptus trees, unlike forest trees, are re - APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 5 gro wn and repleni shed on farms every 7 years. With UBC’s annual paper consumption of 265 ton ne s, 20% wood fib re content translates to 198 ton ne s of raw wood use. Compared to the 693 ton ne s wood use for 30 % PCW wood fibre paper and the 50 years re - grow rate of for est tree s, sourcing m aterials to pro duce whe at fibre paper si gnific antl y low ers the en vironmental impact. 3.2 ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT Man y environmental imp acts due to the produ cti on cyc le needs to be taken int o consi derati on when evalu ati ng the ecolo gical footp rint. To effe cti vel y com pare the 30 % PCW wood fibre pap er wit h th e wheat fib re pap er, the foll owing environmental i ndicators have been chosen: net ene r g y, purc hased ene r g y, greenhous e gases (GHG), wastew ater, and solid waste . The table below (see Tab le 1) shows seve ral envir onmental indicators asso ciated with paper production. In order to produce UBC’s annual paper consumption of 265 ton ne s of 30% PCW wood fibre paper, 7720 million BTU’s of energy are needed. Of the 7720 million BTU’s, approx im atel y 76%, or 5904 million BTU’s of energy has to be purchased. Conversely, since the wheat fibr e pap er pla nt in India gen er ates 80% of the requir ed powe r fr om steam turbines, onl y 20% of th e net en er g y has to b e purch ased. Table 1. Comparison of 30% PCW Wood Fibre Paper and Wheat Fibre Paper Trees act as a carbon sin k since the y store carbon diox ide ( CO 2 ) removed from air. Howeve r, when the tr ees are ha rvested, all the stored carbon is releas ed int o the atm osphere again. Accordin g to American For est s, approx imatel y 1 mill ion pounds of CO 2 equivalent is 30% P CW Wood Fibre P aper Wheat Fibre P aperVolume of P aper 265 tones 265 tonnesNet Energy 7720 million BT U' s N/AP urchased Energy 5904 million BT U' s N/AP ercentage of Energy P urchased 76. 48% 20%Greenhouse Gases 1. 39 million lbs of CO2 equivalent ComparableWastewater 4. 95 million gallons MinimalSolid Waste 0. 45 million pounds MinimalCarbon Emission from Shipping N/A 0. 14 million lbs of CO2 equivalentCarbon Release from Logging 4. 34 million lbs of CO2 equivalent N/AAPS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 6 releas ed for ever y hecta r e of for est harvest ed, app rox im ati ng 1112 mature trees. In order to produce 265 tonnes of 30 % PCW wood fibre pape r, approx im atel y 4.3 he ct ares of forest ne eds to be harvest e d. This transl ates to 4.34 mil li on pounds of CO 2 equivalent rele ased int o the atm osphere due to lo ggin g. During th e producti on of 265 to n n e s of 30% P CW wood fibre paper, gr eenhouse gases equiv alent to 1.39 mil li on pounds of CO 2 are gene rated. Although no ex act figur es for greenhous e emi ssi ons can be found as a result of the produ cti on of wheat fib re pap er, Minto believes that the emi ssi ons from the paper plant in India is comp ara ble, if not less, to the emi ssi ons from the plant s which produce 30 % PCW wood fibre pape r. This is due to the fact that s ystems invol ved in producti on in the wheat fibre pape r mill in India s uch as the recove r y boil er s and powe r boiler s are desi gn ed for low emi ssi ons. However, sinc e the wheat fib re pap er has to be shipped from In dia to Vancouve r, addit ional carbon emi ssi ons from shippi ng needs to be accounted for. Acco r ding to BSR/C lean Car go, the CO 2 emissi on for an avera ge de ep - se a container vess el is 8.4g/t on ne - km. With an appro x im ate shippi ng dist ance of 15,719 nauti cal miles, or 29,112 kil ometers from India to Vancou ver, purch asin g the whe a t fibre pape r from India would incur an add it ional 0.14 million pounds of CO 2 emissi ons. In the end, ca rbon emi ssi ons during the life c yc le of wh eat fibr e pap e r are si gnific antl y l ess than that of the 30% PCW wood fibre paper. Result s from the Paper Calculator shows that the producti on of 265 ton ne s of 30% PCW wood fibre pap er gener ates 4.95 mill ion gall ons of wastewate r and 0.45 mil li on pounds of soli d wast e (Environment al Paper Netwo rk, 2011) . Ho wever, thes e ef fe cts are minim al for the producti on of whe at fibre paper. This is true be ca use the whitening proc ess for whe at fibre paper through a sodi um salt and ox ygen ati on process co ntains no harmful chemi c als and the wate r used for cle aning th e pape r is rec ycl ed and re - used m a n y times, unti l it naturall y ev aporat es and thus needs repl acem ent. Waste materials from the prod ucti on cyc le are rec ycl ed and are m ade int o cardboa rd box es to hold the wheat fib re pap er . As a result , solid waste fro m wheat fibre paper producti on has a mini mal effe ct on the environme nt. APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 7 3.3 DISPOSAL The wheat fibre pap er uti li z es the current pape r re c yc li ng m ethods and thus does not require addit ional att enti on during dispo sal. Sinc e the proportion of the wheat fibre paper is significantl y lowe r than t he conventi onal wood fib re pape r, the wh eat fibr e paper can be rec yc led int o post consum er waste materials such as rec ycl e d paper, napkins , cup sle eves, etc. without an y modi ficati ons to the curr ent rec ycli n g methods. Howeve r, as the propo rtion of wheat fib re pap er compared to conv enti ona l wood fibre pap er incr ea ses due to incre ased popu larit y and us a ge, modi ficati ons or new methods for rec yc li ng wheat fibre pap er are ne cessa r y. APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 8 4.0 ECONOMIC ANALSYS OF WHEAT FIBRE PAPER For an y sust ain able feasibi li t y rese arch, the econo mi c aspect ma y be th e fi nal decidi n g factor. No matt er how beneficial the so cial and th e environmental effe cts an alt ernati ve ma y bring , it ma y be impossi ble to reali z e it if the stake holders wer e to lose mone y as a result . In order to make th e most accurat e repo rt possi ble, indivi duals representi n g Ro yal Printers and UBC Suppl y Man a geme nt department we re int er viewed for th e diffe rent costs for the wheat fibre pap er and the 30 % PCW wood fibre paper. 4.1 IMPORTING METHOD The curr ent opt ion UBC is assessing is to import the wheat fib re pap er fro m India, wher e bil li ons of dollars have al read y be en invested to m anufactu re wh eat fibr e pa per (Ro y, 2012) . This method allows acce ss to the product wit hout having to wo rr y about th e heav y capit al cost s such as retro fitti ng cost for a pulp mil l , and thus have rel ati vel y small risk from fail ing the market. How ever, this o pti on will face drawback s such as the ex pense s fo r shipping and perhaps the reduc ti on in the gross domesti c products due t o the decr eased consum pti on of local paper products. Accordin g to Minto Ro y , the Ro yal Printers repr esentative, the cost of impo rting whe at paper from India will be comparable to the m anuf acturin g method to produ ce conv enti onal wood fibre pap er locall y . Curr e ntl y, UBC spends approx im atel y $1,057,639 annu all y on pap er (Goldsp ink, Duff, 2012) . 4.2 MANUFACTURING METHOD Perhaps the best lon g ter m sol uti on to source wheat fibre pap er ma y be b y manufacturin g them locall y. As menti o ned previous l y, thi s method will involve relati vel y large capit al costs, because th e ex ist ing pulp and paper mill s must be retrofit ted wit h new ma c hineries in order to manufactur e whe at fibre paper (Ro y, 2012) . Mint o mention s that thi s part remain s as a great chall en ge to be ov ercom e unless the demand fo r wheat pap er si gnificantl y rise s . APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 9 Assumi ng the demands are met to make thi s method possi ble , locall y sour c ed wheat fib re paper wil l be app rox im atel y 10% che aper th an importing them from India (Ro y, 2012) . This financial adv anta ge will add up to a tremendous sum of mone y sinc e UBC currentl y spends about $1,057,639 on pap ers annuall y alr ead y. The table below (se e Table 2) is an esti mate of an economi c ove rview of a wheat fibr e paper plant, whe re the fir st yea r was taken fo r retr ofit ti ng the plant and it was in operati on for 10 yea rs wit h stead y depre ci ati on (Dreisi n ger, 2011 ) . Table 2. Economic Analysis of Retrofitting a Plant With the above assum pti ons, the wheat fibr e pape r plant will take 6.5 ye a rs to breakev en, and then have an int ernal rate of return ( IRR ) of 13% at the end of its life cyc l e. Given that the busi ness grows int o a lar ge s cale, this method ma y return greater net profit than ex pected as well . Cost to Retrofit 550 M Operating Cost 15 M Annual Revenue 160 M Year Revenue Operating Costs Investment Gross Profit Depreciation Taxable Income Tax Return Net Profit 1 550 -550 -550 2 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 -450 3 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 -350 4 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 -250 5 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 -150 6 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 -50 7 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 50 8 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 150 9 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 250 1 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 350 11 160 15 145 55 90 45 100 450 IRR 13% APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 10 5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS By inspecti n g the wh eat fibre pape r and wood fibr e paper following th e tripl e bott om line assessment, our group co nclude s that, from social aspect, the labou r condit ions of the wheat fibre paper mill s meet or ex ce ed the requir ements for UBC. The ov erall social impacts for UBC to adapti ng th e whe at fibre paper are posi ti ve. Fo r environmental impact, our group find s that by using whe at fibre paper, 4800 trees could be save d annuall y. Th e whe at fi bre pape r is found t o be more environm ent frie ndl y from sour cin g the ra w material, to the produ c ti on process , and to the end product comp are d to the 30% PCW wood fibre pap er. Furthermor e , accordin g to the data our group has coll ec ted, it is determined that importing whe at fi bre pap er has minim al economi c impact on the l ocal scale. In summar y, we find that repl acin g the 30% PCW wood fibre pap er wit h whe at fi bre pape r is a feasibl e an d sensibl e opti on for UBC to promot e sust ainabili t y in bot h the short run and the lon g ru n. APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 11 REFERENCES American For ests . (2012 ). Assum pti ons and Sources. Retrieved from htt p:/ /www.americanfo re sts .org/assumpt ions - and - sources/ Bruce , M. (1970). The Indian Labour Scene. 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Wood and non - wood pulp pro ducti on: Comparati ve ecolo gical footprinti n g on the Canadian prai ries. Ecologic al Economi cs, 6 2, 552 - 558. doi: 10.1016/j .ecolecon.2006. 07.019 Glavic, P., Krajnc, D. (2 003). Indicators of sustainable producti on. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 5, 279 - 288. doi: 10.1007/s 10098 - 003 - 0221 - z Goldspi nk, P., & Du ff, D. (2012, Feb ruar y 1). Inte rview wit h the Suppl y M ana gement and the Buil ding Op erati ons UBC. (J . Nam, Intervie wer ) INFORM. (2007, Ma y). Paper: The Secret Life Series . Retrieved Febru ar y 2012, from The Secret Life: htt p:/ /www.s ecret - li fe.or g/pap er/pap er _environment.php APS C 262 – Technolog y and Societ y II Sustainabil it y Proje ct Report Team 4 Spring 2012 12 In form. (2009). The wheat sheet . Retrieved from http:/ /www.informi nc.org/whe atsheet_ _ profil e.php Lavin, J . J. (2008, November 25). Rec ycl ed Pape r vs. Vir gin Paper. Markets Init iative. (2009 ). The wheat sheet: A new era of papermaking in Canada . Retrieved from http: // www.albertat echfutur es.ca/P ortals/ 0/documents/ newsroom/ pres sreleases/ Wheat_S heet/ W S %20backgrounder.pd f Nehaluddi n, A. (2011). C hil d labour: ground rea li t ies of Indian labour l aws Commonwealth Law Bulletin , 37, 61 - 74. doi: 10.1080/03050718.2010.524287 Redd y, N., Yan g, Y. (20 05). Biofibr es from agric ult ural b yprodu cts for in dust rial applicati ons. Trends in Biotechnology , 23, 22 - 27. doi: 10.1016/j .ti btech .2004.11.002 Ro y, M. (2012, Febru ar y 28). Intervie w wit h Ro yal Printers. (J . Nam, Inte r viewer) Shaple y, D. (2007, Febru ar y 10). 15 Facts About the Paper Industry, Global Warming and the Environment . Retrieved Febru ar y 2012, from The Dail y Green: htt p:/ /www.thedail ygre e n.com/ environmental - ne ws/latest/ 7447 Tai, A., Bo rromeo, C., & Tsoi, O. (2008, April 18). A Feasbil it y Stud y on t he Li fe C ycle of 30% and 100% Post Consum er Wast e and Vir gin Paper . The Clean Washington C enter. (1997, J une). Whe at Straw as a Pap er Fiber Source. Seatt le, Washington, USA.
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An investigation into the feasibility of wheat versus wood fibre paper for UBC Cheung, Wing Cho; Nam, Jeffrey; Yen, Chung-Chih (Kenny) 2012-03-29
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Title | An investigation into the feasibility of wheat versus wood fibre paper for UBC |
Alternate Title | Sustainability project report : an investigation into the feasibility of wheat versus wood fibre paper for UBC |
Creator |
Cheung, Wing Cho Nam, Jeffrey Yen, Chung-Chih (Kenny) |
Contributor |
University of British Columbia. Sustainability Office |
Date Issued | 2012-03-29 |
Description | The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a leader on sustainability and is currently investigating the feasibility of using wheat fibre paper in lieu of the current 30% post consumer waste wood fibre paper. To examine this matter, a triple bottom line assessment for has been conducted. The triple bottom line assessment includes the investigation of social, environmental, as well as economic aspects of the use of both types of paper through various indicators for each category such as labour conditions, carbon emissions, and cost differences. Through extensive research from sources such as journal articles, online materials and other published reports, surveying users for an evaluation of the performance of both types of paper, as well as interviewing experts in the production of the wheat fibre paper, a significant amount of information and useful data has been gathered. From the investigation, the following observations can be made. First, the overall social aspects such as labour conditions, social awareness, and local resource distribution of the wheat fibre paper meet all the requirements from UBC’s Supplier Code of Conduct. Second, the ecological footprint of the wheat fibre paper during its entire lifecycle is significantly less than that of the 30% PCW wood fibre paper. Third, replacing wood fibre paper with wheat fibre paper at UBC has minimal economic impact on the local scale. Based on the findings from the investigation, it is determined that the utilization of wheat fibre paper at UBC is viable and that the replacement of 30% PCW wood fibre paper with wheat fibre paper is recommended. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.” |
Genre |
Report |
Type |
Text |
Language | eng |
Series |
University of British Columbia. APSC 262 UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report |
Date Available | 2014-07-21 |
Provider | Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library |
Rights | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada |
DOI | 10.14288/1.0108557 |
URI | http://hdl.handle.net/2429/48439 |
Affiliation |
Applied Science, Faculty of |
Campus |
UBCV |
Peer Review Status | Unreviewed |
Scholarly Level | Undergraduate |
Rights URI | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/ |
AggregatedSourceRepository | DSpace |
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