Transforming the bio-based sector towards a circular economy - What can we learn from wood cascading?

Jarre, Matteo; Petit‐Boix, Anna; Priefer, Carmen; Meyer, Rolf; Leipold, Sina

doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2019.01.017

Cited by 116 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Certain articles call for fundamental changes in societal norms and values, which involve radical altering of the economic system including new forms of valorising nature, redistributing/reallocating wealth between centres and peripheries (Ahlqvist and Sirviö 2019 ), and overcoming global North–South power asymmetries (Kröger 2016 ). Others focus away from linear thinking towards circularity, which entails changes in production processes involving a move from through-put to circularity along with changed consumer behaviours to drastically reduce waste generation (Jarre et al 2020 ). Rather than emphasizing technological innovation, Grundel and Dahlström ( 2016 ) stress the importance of social innovation, including new social practices that contribute to regional forest-based bioeconomy development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Holmgren

D'amato

Giurca

2020

Ambio

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This review article examines how social science literature co-produces various imaginaries of forest-based bioeconomy transformations and pathways for reaching desired ends. Based on an analysis of 59 research articles, we find that despite a growing number of social sciences studies on the forest-based bioeconomy, much of the research tends to replicate a bioeconomy imaginary articulated in EU and national bioeconomy policies and strategies. Accordingly, the research primarily reproduces a weak approach to sustainability, which prioritize economic growth and competitiveness. Expectations are largely directed at national and regional corporate interests and forest industrial renewal, while the state has a supportive rather than restricting role. We discuss the findings against the role of social sciences, and conclude that social science scholars may adopt various strategies if interested in opening up forest-based policy debates and offer alternative imaginaries of sustainable bioeconomy transformations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Holmgren

D'amato

Giurca

2020

Ambio

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“…The impacts of wood cascading on ecosystem carbon flows have previously been considered more relevant than direct impacts on the technosystem [15,37] [35] have identified political incentives/barriers and market mechanisms as two of the most crucial factors that impact the realisation of wood cascading. Market regulation and supportive incentives for long-lifetime products and cascading practices ensuring efficient material use before energy use could improve the stability of carbon benefits in the technosystem.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this does not apply if disturbances such as forest fires or insect attacks occur, thus harvested wood-based products may offer steadier carbon storage. On the other hand, long-term carbon storage in harvested wood products is not guaranteed either, as it depends on markets, which may change rapidly Jarre et al (2020). …”

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confidence: 99%

Substitution and carbon storage impacts of harvested wood products - Effects of increased cascading with different market responses

Kunttu¹,

Hurmekoski

Myllyviita

et al. 2021

Preprint

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BackgroundThe climate impacts of wood-based products can be measured by substitution impacts and changes in product carbon stocks. Cascade use of wood aims to increase resource efficiency and minimize the impact on the environment and climate, but it may lead to changes in the product portfolios of industries. Thus, measuring the overall impact is challenging. This study analyses the impact of wood cascading on the climate under varying market responses. Cascade use here refers to discarded sawnwood product utilisation in panel and wood-based composite production. The study utilises explorative scenarios where Finnish wood-based flows are modelled in an Excel-based material flow model, and discarded sawnwood flows are shifted from energy use to material use in the end-of-life stage. The Reference case represents the situation where discarded wood-based products are only used for energy. The scenarios portray plausible market responses to cascading, with cascade production either leading to additional wood-based panel and composite production, or substituting primary sawnwood products thus leading to lower overall harvest levels. ResultsThe results show that the cascading can result in 1.6%-5.4% more avoided C emissions compared to reference when considering the substitution impacts, the carbon stock changes in wood products, and the avoided carbon loss from roundwood harvest. Besides the market response, the results vary depending on the time-period selected for the estimation of the average annual carbon stock change of wood products and the emission profile of non-wood products. ConclusionsThe results of this study indicate that cascading can contribute to climate change mitigation regardless of the market response, but it depends on the market response whether the reduction potential origins from wood-based products or indirect changes in the harvest levels. There are less avoided C emission gains in the technosystem, if cascading production substitutes primary production and therefore reduces the wood harvest. However, the opposite holds, if the average substitution impacts are significantly reduced in the future due to decarbonization of non-wood sectors. Thus, in the long-term, extending the carbon residence in the technosystem or in the ecosystem may provide a larger climate change mitigation potential than increasing the substitution impacts. Keywords: carbon stock change, cascading, forest industries, greenhouse gas emissions, harvested wood products, substitution, substitution impact

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“…There is intensive research available in the literature about circularity in the industry, such as in metals processing [47], including copper [48] and steel [49]. Other fields have also been researched, such as construction [50] or forest wood harvesting and utilisation [51]. However, the global economy is not circular because large amounts of materials are used only once to provide energy or commercial value and are thus not available for recycling [52].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamics-Based Process Sustainability Evaluation

et al. 2020

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This article considers the problem of the evaluation of the sustainability of heterogeneous process systems, which can have different areas of focus: from single process operations to complete supply chains. The proposed method defines exergy-based concepts to evaluate the assets, liabilities, and the exergy footprint of the analysed process systems, ensuring that they are suitable for Life Cycle Assessment. The proposed concepts, evaluation framework and cumulative Exergy Composite Curves allow the quantitative assessment of process systems, including alternative solutions. The provided case studies clearly illustrate the applicability of the method and the close quantitative relationship between the exergy profit and the potential sustainability contribution of the proposed solutions. The first case study demonstrates how the method is applied to the separation and reuse of an acetic-acid-containing waste stream. It is shown that the current process is not sustainable and needs substantial external exergy input and deeper analysis. The second case study concerns Municipal Solid Waste treatment and shows the potential value and sustainability benefit that can be achieved by the extraction of useful chemicals and waste-to-energy conversion. The proposed exergy footprint accounting framework clearly demonstrates the potential to be applied to sustainability assessment and process improvement while simultaneously tracking different kinds of resources and impacts.

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Transforming the bio-based sector towards a circular economy - What can we learn from wood cascading?

Cited by 116 publications

References 52 publications

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Substitution and carbon storage impacts of harvested wood products - Effects of increased cascading with different market responses

Thermodynamics-Based Process Sustainability Evaluation

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