Environmental Product Declaration. NU Green SOYA Particleboard. Product Description. Issued March, 2016 Valid until March, 2021

Transcription

1 Environmental Product Declaration NU Green SOYA Particleboard Product Description This declaration is a Type III EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for NU Green SOYA particleboards manufactured by Uniboard, developed in accordance with ISO Issued March, 2016 Valid until March, 2021

2 NU GREEN SOYA PARTICLEBOARD This EPD is based on a Cradle-to-Gate life cycle assessment of the product s potential environmental impacts that was conducted in accordance with ISO DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT Producer Uniboard is a North American leader in the production of wood products, including particleboards, with the mission to secure the leading market position while providing outstanding service and state-of-the-art product innovation. Uniboard s manufacturing plants are located in Quebec, Canada. Product description The NU Green SOYA is a particleboard that uses a soy-based resin as adhesive, and can be used for indoor construction or furniture manufacturing. It is produced at the Uniboard manufacturing plant located in Sayabec, Quebec, Canada. NU Green SOYA particleboard meets the requirements of ANSI A /Grade M-2. NU Green SOYA meets the Class 3 or C ULC (ASTM E84) requirements concerning the Flame Spread Index (between 76 and 200) and the Smoke Development (maximum 450). NU Green SOYA formaldehyde emissions are 0.01 ppm. 2

3 Figure 1: Representation of NU Green SOYA particleboards Dimensions: 4 x 8 x 5/8 Reference service life: 50 years Material Composition for 1 m 3 of NU Green SOYA Materials Amount Proportion Wood chips, shavings, sawdust 426 kg 64% Wood logs, from thinning 175 kg 26% Soybean meal 27 kg 4% Catalyst 24 kg 4% Urea 14 kg 2% Wax 1 kg <1% TOTAL 668 kg 100% Packaging materials Amount Polyester 131 g/m 3 3

4 Life Cycle Assessment Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a rigorous study of inputs and outputs flows, over the entire life of a product or process, and their associated environmental impacts. The present LCA is Cradle-to-Gate, meaning that it includes all impacts related to raw materials acquisition and product manufacturing stages. The Cradle-to-Gate processes are presented by Figure 2. Logging and forest management Logging and forest management Board manufacturing Raw materials acquisition Soybean meal Catalyst Urea Wax Transportation Plastic strapping Roundwood Transportation Sawmill Woodchips, sawdust, shavings Transportation Drying Board fabrication (panel forming ans pressing) Cooling Board finishing Packaging Wood logs Transportation Wood waste Internal energy recovery Wood waste Internal energy recovery Sayabec production plant Emissions to air, water, soil Ash production Metal Waste- Recycling Mixed Wasteproduction Ressources (electricity, energy, raw materials, water...) NU Green SOYA particleboard 4 x8 x5/8 Figure 2: Cradle-to-Gate process flow diagram of NU Green SOYA particleboard diagram. 4

5 Raw materials acquisition: The board production process receives wood fiber from two sources: 1. wood logs from thinning and 2. wood waste from sawmilling. Concerning wood logs, data include wood extraction from the forest and logs transportation. The wood waste data includes the production of wood chips, shavings and sawdust as co-products of sawing and planning activities as well as their transportation to the manufacturing site. Besides wood fiber, the raw materials acquisition step includes as well the production and transportation of glue (soybean meal), catalyst and wax. Board manufacturing: This step includes the energy requirements (electricity, heat) and emissions to the environment related to wood drying, board manufacturing (panel forming and pressing), cooling and board finishing. These steps produce wood residues (e.g. bark) that are used internally to produce heat. To meet the energy needs, the manufacturing plant also needs to purchase additional wood residues. The manufacturing plant produces waste that is sent to landfill. Metallic waste is 100% recycled. The internal production of heat, using wood residues, produces ash that is used as cover material in landfills, as a substitute to sand. Packaging is also included in the manufacturing stage. Particleboards are packed with polyester strapping. 5

6 Declared unit 1 m 3 of NU Green SOYA particleboard. Reference flows One (1) board of NU Green SOYA particleboard represents m 3, meaning, that 21.2 NU Green SOYA particleboards are necessary to fulfill the declared unit. Data sources The LCA study collected primary data from Uniboard for the year 2014 using a LCI questionnaire. These data included the annual production volumes, the amount of raw materials entering in the particleboard production, losses related to these materials, distances and transportation mode for the raw material supply, energy consumption, emissions to the environment, water consumption, waste production, and packaging materials. Primary data, related to the catalyst composition, was collected directly from the manufacturer using another LCI questionnaire. When primary data was not available, unit processes were selected from the ecoinvent v3.1 database. When necessary, electricity grid mixes and transportation of unit processes have been adapted to the appropriate specific contexts (Quebec, Canada, US or North-America). Secondary data, related to wood logs extraction, is taken from the Athena Life Cycle Assessment on Canadian Surfaced Dry Softwood lumber. These data includes site preparation activities required to prepare a site for planting, as well as the harvesting activities that includes: felling, processing (i.e. the cutting of limbs and tops to transform the tree into a merchantable log), secondary transportation, loading, and hauling. Cut-off rules According to the PCR, mass or energy flows contributing to less than 1% of the total mass or energy flows can be excluded, provided that its environmental contribution is minor (<2%). Two (2) components of the catalyst, which account for 2.5% of catalyst mass and 0.1% total product mass, have been excluded from the calculation. Allocation Data relative to energy consumption (electricity, heat), emissions to the environment, water consumption and waste production was provided for the whole Sayabec manufacturing plant. Allocation could not be avoided. All products made at the manufacturing plant go through the similar manufacturing steps. Their economic value difference is less than a factor of 10. Therefore, mass allocation was suitable to estimate the total energy share assigned to each product. Similarly, mass allocation was used to determine the share of air emissions, water consumption and waste production that could be assigned to NU Green SOYA particleboards. Exclusions For this study, no data on the construction, maintenance or dismantling of the capital assets, daily transport of employees, office work, business trips, and other activity from Uniboard employees was included in the model. The model only takes into account processes associated with infrastructures that are already included in the ecoinvent modules. 6

7 Geographical coverage This study is conducted in a Quebec context, as Uniboard is based in the province of Quebec (Canada). Wood extraction data is specific to the Canadian context. Concerning secondary data, ecoinvent processes developed for Quebec were used in priority. Otherwise, grid mixes were adapted consequently. Treatment of biogenic carbon In accordance to the PCR, carbon dioxide emissions released from the combustion of woody biomass during production are considered as climate neutral. This does not apply to other emissions associated with wood combustion, such as methane or nitrogen oxides, that are considered to have a global warming potential. Carbon stored in wood products can be calculated using the FPInnovations PCR Carbon Sequestration Calculator. Parameters and subsequent results are presented in Table 1. Wood content was calculated by adding the amount of wood logs, wood chips, shavings and saw dust. Table 1: Environmental Impacts, Use of Resources, and Generation of Waste for 1 m 3 of NU Green SOYA Calculation parameters Wood content (kg) Value 601 kg Moisture content (%) 6 % Oven dry mass (%) 567 kg Initial greenhouse gas credit (kg CO2 eq) -1,039.5 Total C02 emissions (kg CO2) Total CH4 emissions (kg CH4) 4.2 Net GWP credit (kg CO2 eq)

8 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT RESULTS Environmental Impact Indicators Environmental impact indicators, namely global warming, acidification, eutrophication, smog creation, and ozone depletion, have been calculated using the North American impact assessment methodology TRACI v2.1 developed by the US EPA. The impact category indicators from TRACI are summarized in Table 2. Total primary energy consumption has been determined using the Cumulative Energy Demand methodology v as a basis. The consumption of fresh water has been determined using the impact assessment methodology BEES+ v.4.05, more specifically its water intake indicator, as suggested in the PCR. Finally material resource consumption and waste generation have been quantified from the inventory results. Table 2: Impact category indicators and reference substances of the TRACI methodology Impact category indicators Reference substance Description Global Warming kg CO 2 eq. Contribution to global warming for all the substances listed by the IPCC Acidification kg H + eq. Potential impact to increase acidity of soil and water systems Eutrophication kg N eq. Potential fertilization of a surface water where nutrient were previously scarce Smog kg O 3 eq. Potential impact on increasing smog Ozone kg CFC-11 eq. Potential impact on stratospheric ozone depletion 1 The method to calculate Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) is based on the method first published by ecoinvent version 1.01 and expanded by PRé Consultants for energy resources available in the SimaPro database. (Frischknecht et al. 2003). 8

9 Cradle-to-Gate impact assessment results Environmental impacts and life cycle inventory parameters related to 1 m3 NU Green SOYA are presented in Table 3. Table 3: Environmental Impacts, Use of Resources, and Generation of Waste for 1 m 3 of Nu Green SOYA Impact category indicator Unit Results per declared unit Global Warming Potential kg CO 2 eq Acidification potential kg SO 2 eq 1.54 Eutrophication potential kg N eq 0.96 Smog creation potential kg O 3 eq Ozone depletion potential kg CFC-11 eq Total primary energy consumption Non-renewable fossil MJ Non-renewable nuclear MJ Renewable MJ (solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal) Renewable (biomass) MJ Feedstock energy, renewable MJ Total primary energy MJ Material resources consumption Non-renewable materials kg Non-renewable materials kg (including fuels for energy) Renewable materials kg Fresh water L Wastes Hazardous kg 0.67 Non-hazardous kg

10 Contribution of the life cycle stages The contribution of the different NU Green SOYA life cycle stages to the environmental impacts is presented Figure % 80% 60% 40% Board Manufacturing Raw materials acquisition 20% 0% Global warming Acidification Eutrophication Smog Ozone depletion Figure 4: Contribution of life cycle stages to the environmental impacts - NU Green SOYA Raw materials acquisition is responsible for more than 80% of the impacts in four (4) impact categories. Figure 5 presents the contribution of the different NU Green SOYA life cycle stages to the energy consumption. Raw materials acquisition is the most energy-consuming stage (> 60%), except for renewable energy from sources other than biomass. Figure 6 shows that 66% of the NU Green SOYA energy demand comes from renewable sources. Finally, Raw materials acquisition is responsible for 67% of the whole life cycle water intake, as shown in Figure % 80% 60% 40% Board Manufacturing Raw materials acquisition 20% 0% Non-renewable fossil Non-renewable nuclear Renewable Biomass Renewable, wind, solar, geothe Figure 5: Contribution of life cycle stages to the energy demand- NU Green SOYA 10

11 5% 32% 61% Fossil Nuclear Biomass Other renewables 2% Figure 6: Primary energy consumption by resources - NU Green SOYA 67% 33% Board Manufacturing Raw materials acquisition Figure 7: Contribution of life cycle stages to the water consumption- NU Green SOYA Additional environmental information Sustainable forest management: NU Green SOYA particleboard is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified and an Eco-Certified Composite TM (ECC) by the Composite Panel Association (CPA). Air quality: NU Green SOYA particleboard is NAF (No added Formaldehyde) / ULEF (Ultra Low Emission Formaldehyde) certified by the CPA. Its formaldehyde emissions are below 0.01 ppm. NU Green SOYA particleboards do not emit any other substances listed in the Toxic Substances List - Schedule 1 from Environment Canada. 11

12 References Athena Sustainable Materials Institute (2012). A Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Assessment of Canadian Surfaced Dry Softwood Lumber: An Update, 54 pp. Bare, J. C. and T. P. Gloria (2008). Environmental impact assessment taxonomy providing comprehensive coverage of midpoints, endpoints, damages, and areas of protection. Journal of Cleaner Production 16: Bergman, R. and S. Bowe (2011). Life-Cycle Inventory of manufacturing prefinished engineered wood flooring in the Eastern United States. CORRIM. 47 pp. Ellio (2015). Life cycle assessment of NU Green SOYA particleboard, Uniboard, 44 pp. FPInnovations (2013). Product Category Rules. North American structural and architectural wood products. Version pp. Frischknecht, R., N. Jungbluth et al. (2003). Implementation of Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods. Final report ecoinvent 2000, Swiss Centre for LCI. Dübendorf, CH, ISO (2006a). ISO 14025: Environmental labels and declarations. Type III environmental declarations -- Principles and procedures. ISO (2006b). ISO Environmental management -- Life cycle assessment -- Requirements and guidelines. Geneva, Switzerland, International Organisation for Standardisation: 46 pp. Statistics Canada (2012). Waste management in Canada, in Human Activity and the Environment. Catalogue no X. Minister of Industry. Ottawa, ON, Canada. 46 pp. 12 About this EPD This declaration is a Type III EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for NU Green SOYA particleboards manufactured by Uniboard, developed in accordance with ISO This EPD is based on a Cradle-to-Gate life cycle assessment of the product potential environmental impacts that was conducted in accordance with ISO The LCA and the EPD were produced by Vertima and Ellio with guidance from FPInnovations. Program Operator: FPInnovations 2665 East Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5 1 (604) EPD Owner: Uniboard Canada Inc. 5555, rue Ernest-Cormier Laval (Québec) H7C 2S9 1 (450) EPDs do not address all aspects of sustainability concerns. For example, they do not cover the product social impacts, nor the site-specific environmental impacts as would an environmental impact analysis. EPDs can be compared only if they are based on the same product function and reference service life, which are quantified by the same functional unit in the form of their reference flows. Therefore, EPDs from different programs may not be comparable. NU Green SOYA product technical sheet and explanatory materials on the background LCA can be found online at Declared product NU Green SOYA particleboard Reference PCR Product Category Rules (PCR) for preparing an Environmental Product Declaration for North American Structural and Architectural Wood Products v1.1. FPInnovations May PCR Review was conducted by: Wayne Trusty, Wayne Trusty and Associates Limited wtrusty@sympatico.com 1 (613) This declaration was independently verified in accordance with ISO by INTERNAL EXTERNAL Lal Mahalle FPInnovations, 2665 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5 Issued March, 2016 Valid until March, 2021