| 11. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Consequences for wood resource use for incontinence diapers in Europe 2010 to 2050
- 2011
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Ingår i: Annual Poster Exhibition at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, April 12th 2011, Göteborg, Sweden, A7.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Increasing life expectancy results in an ageing society in parts of the world. The old of tomorrow are also expected to have higher comfort demands. One likely consequence is an increase in the need of such products as disposable incontinence diapers, which are today partly based on cellulose from forestry. A calculation of the potential increase for heavy incontinence care (assuming the use of disposable incontinence diapers) was made based on the demographic trends for Europe and on the yield from forestry performed under Nordic conditions. The calculation is using a parameterisation known from literature: I = i * m * u * P. It expresses the impact (I, in our case, forest area in ha) as a product of four factors that humans have the ability to change, in our case, i = ha Nordic forest area / kg material, m = kg material / service, u = service / population in Europe, and P = population in Europe. The 'service' is to keep a customer with heavy incontinence dry for a year, assuming that the same fraction of the population above 50 years as today will need heavy incontinence protection. Under these assumptions, the forest area needed for heavy incontinence care in Europe will increase with about 75% until 2050. According to the current work in the WooDi research project, aiming at producing a wood-based diaper, if the petroleum-based material in the absorbent core in the diapers were to be replaced by wood-based, this would increase the needed forest area to about 136%, assuming a 1:1 replacement ratio by weight which seems to be a low estimate. This is still a small share of the total European forest area (0.2%). However, such an increase in wood demand for only one product is not without problems, since forests to a large extent are already utilised, e.g. for timber and pulp and paper production, and since there is an expected increase in demand for bio-based fuels and materials for replacement of fossil-based products, thus competing for either the yield from the forests or for the land area. At the same time, there are rising concerns regarding biodiversity and other ecosystem services in connection to forestry.
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| 12. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental challenges when developing renewable materials to replace non-renewable materials - receiving guidance from LCA studies
- 2010
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Ingår i: 9th International Conference on EcoBalance 2010 'Towards & Beyond 2020' 9-12 November,Tokyo, Japan. - Tokyo.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since the demand for more sustainable products is growing, the pressure on material developers to improve the sustainability performance of the products that they are developing is increasing. As a consequence, the need to move away from a narrow understanding of “product” and “environment” is becoming more apparent. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach has been used to find rough estimates of how much process energy, raw materials etc. are used in the process of transforming a biomass feedstock into a new material. A reference product with a fossil based material intended to be replaced is used as a benchmark for the new product. The new product must perform at least as well as this benchmark and preferably better. We illustrate this LCA based methodology using the example of replacing petroleum-based polymeric material with wood-based material in a disposable consumer product.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Replacement of non-renewable materials by renewable materials in a diaper - how to assess the change in sustainability performance
- 2010
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Ingår i: Annual Poster Exhibition at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Mars 18th 2010, Göteborg, Sweden. ; :32, s. 44-
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The WooDi project – the Wood based Diaper, is a research collaboration between industry and university. The goal of the project is to make a new diaper that is more sustainable than today’s product, by replacing non-renewable oil based materials in the diaper with a renewable material based on wood. This calls for a way to compare the sustainability associated with using the different raw materials. A literature survey showed that comparisons of the implications of using crude oil and biomass resources have so far mainly been made for fuels used in transportation. The available literature assessing the use of fossil fuels versus bio-fuels focuses primarily on greenhouse gas emissions, often referred to as the carbon footprint. It does not include, e.g., effects on ecosystem quality, employment, economy, etc. The increased use of bio-fuels for transportation is discussed in relation to food and feed grain prices, as well as negative environmental impacts arising from deforestation and land conversion, as food and fuel compete for scarce land resources.A diverse number of tools exist that can assess different product sustainability attributes for parts of or whole product life cycles, but none that can directly assess the sustainability of product with renewable versus non-renewable material resource. A reason for that no such method exists is a lack of indicators that describe the competition of resources and how they interact with biodiversity, human health, soil protection, and energy, food, and material production. In addition, this is due to the complexity to define and value social interactions and impacts on ecosystem services. Consequently, there exists no readily available method for comparing the sustainability of using non-renewable oil and renewable wood as raw materials. Acknowledgements – Financial support from Vinnova, SCA Hygiene Products AB and Södra Cell AB is greatly appreciated.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability considerations in the development of materials intended for an absorbent hygiene product
- 2009
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Ingår i: Annual Poster Exhibition at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Mars 12th 2009, Göteborg, Sweden.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- WooDi, the Wood based Diaper, is a research collaboration between industry and university. The research has a specific focus on replacing non-renewable materials in the absorbent structure of an incontinence diaper, while ensuring that the new product is also more sustainable than a reference diaper. The work packages in the project focus on forming networks of fibres with tailored properties, characterisation of the networks, designing the production process, and assessing sustainability of the life-cycle of the diapers and guiding the material and product development process through important sustainability considerations.For the new wood fibre based material that is being developed, the properties are yet unknown and production, use and disposal of the product can thus not yet be defined, which is normal in a material development project. Important sustainability considerations will be visualised at the start of the project and thereafter continuously assessed and refined in an iterative process. This calls for the development of an iterative methodology for sustainability assessment that can guide the project through this process with an increasing level of accuracy and detail over time. A few generic frameworks for sustainability assessment in product development have been suggested in literature [1, 2], but actual case studies that show successful implementation are not yet available. In the WooDi project, a well functioning communication between different stakeholders in the project and a project group with knowledge from different areas will ensure that innovative ideas based on best available knowledge can be created and developed in consideration of relevant sustainability aspects.1. Holmberg, J., U. Lundqvist, and K.-H. Robert, An approach to sustainable product development relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Environment, ed. R. Hillary. 2000: Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, UK.2. Byggeth, S., G. Broman, and K.-H. Robèrt, A method for sustainable product development based on a modular system of guiding questions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2007. 15(1): p. 1-11.Acknowledgement – Financial support from Vinnova, SCA Hygiene Products AB and Södra Cell AB is greatly appreciated
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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The ageing society – an example of consequences for biomass use for incontinence diapers in Europe
- 2011
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Ingår i: Poster presentation at the AGS annual meeting 'Sustainability and change', 23-25 January 2011, Göteborg, Sweden.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Increasing life expectancy results in an ageing society in parts of the world. The old of tomorrow are also expected to have higher comfort demands. One likely consequence is an increase in the need of such products as disposable incontinence diapers, which are today partly based on cellulose from forestry. A calculation of the potential increase for heavy incontinence care (assuming the use of disposable incontinence diapers) was made based on the demographic trends for Europe and on the yield from forestry performed under Nordic conditions. The calculation is using a parameterisation known from literature: I = i * m * u * P. It expresses the impact (I, in our case, forest area in ha) as a product of four factors that humans have the ability to change, in our case, i = ha Nordic forest area / kg material, m = kg material / service, u = service / population in Europe, and P = population in Europe. The 'service' is to keep a customer with heavy incontinence dry for a year, assuming that the same fraction of the population above 50 years as today will need heavy incontinence protection. Under these assumptions, the forest area needed for heavy incontinence care in Europe will increase with about 75% until 2050. According to the current work in the WooDi research project, aiming at producing a wood-based diaper, if the petroleum-based material in the absorbent core in the diapers were to be replaced by wood-based, this would increase the needed forest area to about 136%, assuming a 1:1 replacement ratio by weight which seems to be a low estimate. This is still a small share of the total European forest area (0.2%). However, such an increase in wood demand for only one product is not without problems, since forests to a large extent are already utilised, e.g. for timber and pulp and paper production, and since there is an expected increase in demand for bio-based fuels and materials for replacement of fossil-based products, thus competing for either the yield from the forests or for the land area. At the same time, there are rising concerns regarding biodiversity and other ecosystem services in connection to forestry.
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| 19. |
- Clancy, Gunilla, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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To develop material for more sustainable products: Learning for action
- 2012
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Ingår i: Science and Technology Day 2012, Poster Exhibition at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology and the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden, March 27th 2012.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since companies have to develop more sustainable products to continue operation in the long term, there is a demand for ways to guide and compare the sustainability already in material or product development. This has been studied through action research in a material development project that aims to develop wood-based materials to replace petroleum-based materials while ensuring a more sustainable product. More sustainable future societies might put very different demands on products compared to the strictest requirements of today. To develop more sustainable products therefore requires future oriented assessment parameters already in early stages of material or product development - where choices determining many of the sustainability burdens of a product are made. Furthermore, the whole life cycle of products needs to be envisaged in order for sustainability to be defined. There is thus, for example, little point in talking about 'sustainable materials' since the sustainability of their use may be strongly affected by the rest of the life cycle, after material manufacturing, thus, the materials need to be seen in a context. A description of important sustainability considerations must be made in relation to the challenges that become visible when looking at a whole product system and in relation to its surrounding world which to complicate this further, are also changing over time, and therefore an appropriate time perspective must be applied. Relevant product sustainability aspects and parameters must be identified and described. Approaches for handling this complex situation has not been found in literature and therefore a team learning approach that deal with these issues has been developed. The proposed approach is aimed for material or product development. It has a specific focus on facilitating innovation towards more sustainable products by translating and integrating significant product sustainability characteristics into each team member’s specific area of expertise and everyday work. The material and product development team members are largely affecting the sustainability performance of the finished product. The approach is an iterative process which should continue until the material or product is available for sale and thus the product sustainability parameters will be modified during the process to include new knowledge. Hence, the assessments will be more exact with time.
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| 20. |
- Fakhari Rad, Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
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Including Ecosystem Services in Sustainability Assessment of Forest Biofuels
- 2012
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Ingår i: World Bioenergy 2012 Proceedings. - 9789197762458 ; , s. 75-78
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With increasing demand for forest biofuels the pressures on ecosystem services from forestry practices willincrease. This calls for identification and assessment of tradeoffs between different uses of provisioning and otherecosystem services and establish management practices considering such tradeoffs.
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