Collaborative Life Cycle Assessment for British Columbia Pulp Mills to Understand Their Roles in Sustainable Biomaterials Production

Canada’s bioeconomy, utilizing renewable biological resources for producing materials and energy, holds promise for diversifying the nation’s economy. Pulp mills are integral to this shift, transforming wood fibers and residues into various high-value products, fostering innovation and sustainability. Key to this transition is understanding mill sustainability through life cycle assessment (LCA). However, there’s a notable lack of data from British Columbia (BC) pulp mills in major LCA databases. Addressing this, a collaborative project between industry partners and academic researchers aims to fill this data gap. The initiative involves developing a streamlined data collection and curation method, specifically tailored for LCA modeling in pulp mills. This project will also conduct an LCA study on partner mills to assess climate change impacts from different pulp mill products. Additionally, the project’s insights and the developed methods will enable other BC pulp mills to conduct their own LCA studies.

Faculty Supervisor:

Qingshi Tu

Student:

Partner:

Harmac Pacific (Nanaimo Forest Products);Mercer International

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: