Cardboard, a thicker and sturdier material made from paper, is widely used to package food, clothing, and ship larger, delicate items. It comes in various thicknesses and structures, with the most evident distinction between different types of cardboard. Plastic production and disposal emit around 3 of global greenhouse gas emissions, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide. Cardboard emits around three kg of carbon dioxide for every kilogram produced, about the same as burning one kg of oil.
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has gathered global data on the amount of climate-warming greenhouse gas produced in making all that plastic, from cradle to grave. Piles of cardboard and paper littering America’s landfills represent $4 billion in lost economic value, according to a new analysis by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy. Researchers conducted the first global assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from plastics to understand the true carbon footprint and overall sustainability performance of different packaging materials.
The cradle to grave carbon footprint of a cardboard box is 0.94 kg CO2 e/kg, while the cradle to grave carbon footprint of flat cardboard is 1.53 kg CO2 e/kg. One ton of corrugated cardboard generates 538 kg of carbon equivalent emissions throughout its lifecycle. The total carbon footprint for flat cardboard is 1.53 kg CO2e/kg, which is a much smaller carbon footprint than plastic or styrofoam packaging materials. Cardboard recycling reduces CO2 emissions by absorbing 250 pounds of carbon for each ton of recycled cardboard.
In conclusion, cardboard production and disposal contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, with cardboard being a significant contributor to these emissions.
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How much waste does cardboard produce?
The world produces over 72 million tonnes of cardboard annually, which forms 17 of global waste, second-highest after food and green waste. Around 90 of products are shipped in cardboard packaging materials, and the global cardboard industry is worth over £3 billion. About 17 billion cardboard tubes are thrown away every year, and it takes around two months for cardboard to biodegrade. The UK generates the most cardboard waste in Europe, followed by Germany and France.
The country has a high recycling rate for cardboard, with many being composted. However, many cardboard waste ends up in landfills. In the UK, 5, 389, 000 tons of paper and cardboard packaging waste are produced annually, with a recycling rate of 70. 6. About 3 million tonnes of cardboard is composted annually, saving the equivalent of 34 million trees annually.
How much CO2 is produced from cardboard?
The cradle to grave carbon footprint of a cardboard box is 0. 94 kg CO2 e/kg, while flat cardboard has a cradle to grave carbon footprint of 1. 53 kg CO2 e/kg. A 9 x 9 x 9 inch e-commerce box emits 0. 27 kg CO2 e, equivalent to 3. 0 of a gallon of gasoline. Cardboard boxes consist of cardboard walls with corrugated strips for strength, often unbleached, and some contain printed surfaces, further contributing to the environmental impact. The greenhouse gas emissions for common box sizes are based on Uline (2021A, B, C, D, E).
How much CO2 is 1kg?
Carbon dioxide is a colorless and odorless gas, which makes it challenging to visualize. Nevertheless, one kilogram of carbon dioxide is equivalent to the volume of a large beach ball, which is approximately the same as the distance traveled by an average car. The average distance traveled by a vehicle is 7 kilometers, and the fuel consumption is approximately half a liter of petrol. Alternatively, the same amount of energy could be used to brew 16 cups of tea.
How bad is cardboard for the environment?
The production of cardboard has environmental costs, including water and energy consumption, deforestation, and habitat destruction due to virgin wood pulp. However, the paper manufacturing industry is one of the lowest greenhouse gas emitters compared to plastic, contributing only 0. 8 to global emissions in 2017. It also has a relatively small carbon footprint, with one ton of corrugated cardboard generating 538 kg of carbon equivalent emissions throughout its lifecycle.
How much CO2 does one piece of paper produce?
The generation of approximately 5 grams of CO₂ is associated with the production of a single sheet of paper, with this figure being derived from the ratio of 80 grams to 16. Inkjet printers with 15 watts have minimal emissions, whereas laser printers consume 1, 300 watts during the warm-up phase, resulting in approximately 7. Thus, the emission rate is 9 g per minute.
How much CO2 is produced per kg of paper?
The CO2 impact of paper use is calculated over its entire life cycle, starting with the production of paper, transportation to the processor, and recycling. The total CO2 impact is 1. 71 kg CO2 per kg paper. Separating paper and recycling it can reduce this impact by 0. 83 kg CO2 per kg. For a company with 400 employees, this equates to 9, 450 kg of CO2 emissions for waste paper neatly presented for recycling. Separating paper properly saves 38 kg of CO2 emissions.
To further reduce paper emissions, companies can use three strategies: less, better, and more efficient. The effectiveness of each strategy is calculated for this example. By separating paper properly, companies can save 38 kg of CO2 emissions per kg of paper.
What is the emission factor of cardboard packaging?
Consumer Ecology reports that cardboard boxes have a total carbon footprint of 0. 94 kg CO2e / kg, while flat cardboard has a carbon footprint of 1. 53 kg CO2e / kg. However, some cardboard packaging is bleached or uses additional inks for labels, which contribute to the overall environmental impact. Plastic packaging is a major contributor to pollution in landfills and oceans, producing up to three pounds of carbon dioxide per pound of PET. The life cycle of plastic packaging involves the production of resins from oil, petroleum, and natural gas, which are transported to the manufacturer via train, truck, or shipping container.
This long-distance transportation results in more fuel consumption and increased carbon dioxide emissions into the air. Therefore, it is crucial to consider these factors when conducting life cycle analyses or audits.
Is cardboard eco friendly packaging?
Cardboard is an eco-friendly option due to its biodegradability and recycling capabilities. It decomposes naturally and can be recycled multiple times, significantly reducing its impact on landfills and the environment. Corrugated cardboard boxes can be used for company packaging, benefiting the environment and sustainability initiatives. Some of the most significant advantages of cardboard packaging include its ability to be recycled multiple times, reducing waste, and its ability to be reused multiple times.
Is cardboard bad for the environment?
The increasing popularity of online shopping has led to a surge in cardboard boxes, which are highly recyclable. However, recycling cardboard is crucial for its environmental benefits. If left in landfills, it contributes to global warming by releasing methane, which has a significant environmental impact over 20 times greater than carbon dioxide. Recycling cardboard to create new fiber-based products reduces greenhouse gases.
To learn more about recycling cardboard, visit FlatCardboard. com. It is important to dispose of packing peanuts in the trash, not in your recycling cart. Recycling cardboard is essential for creating new fiber-based products and reducing greenhouse gases.
How do you calculate CO2 emissions from paper?
The CO2 impact of paper is calculated using the production of paper, transportation to the processor, and processing into recycled paper. The production costs 1. 02 kg of CO2 per kg of paper, while transportation and processing cost 0. 16 kg and 0. 53 kg respectively. Printing double-sided and on the most efficient print mode can save some environmental damage. Reducing paper use can be achieved by using recycled paper or opting not to print this article.
For example, an average office with 400 employees uses 2 million A4 sheets per year, resulting in 11, 475 kg of paper. This annual paper use is equivalent to 15, 232 kg CO2 equivalents, equivalent to flying around the world twice. To calculate the CO2 impact of paper use, consider the entire life cycle of paper, starting with the production of paper and processing.
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If you haven’t already, watch the film The Good Lie, which is based on the true story of a group of refugees from the African country Sudan who came to the U.S. just before 9/11/2001. 1 of the characters worked at a grocery store who was shocked that so much good food was just thrown away, and when he was told by his boss not to give homeless people the food the store throws away he quit his job in protest.
thats great i hope they find a way to lower the cost because in the usa some Farmers are required to Dump a whole season worth of crops this could be sold if they come up with a industrial size one that a Farmers can afford (i wont go into the Mandatory requirements just to sell your own produce) place out back dump all that was into this gas to be Sold at least they could have some profit for the season
This is from my place,HYDERABAD. The technology is old but using it right way at right place is marvelous. B4 this some mkts used them for VERMICOMPOST. I say that market should buy leftover vegetables from farmers/sellers at minimal price. The leftovers can be massively needed to transport to a dump yard in outskirts, which costs transport .If left at market, stinks and pollutes atmosphere, becomes breeding ground for flies and diseases, bad for Mkting business and consumers. It’s a self sustainable generation of biogas to electricity, reduces electric bills.atlast Good for environment.
Yeah use electricity and lots of labour to generate some electricity… I remembered, some 35 years back, we used to feed thousands of stray pigs and cows with waste vegetables. In return we get tons of cow dung, which was further used to generate biogas. We didn’t needed costly crusher machines, nor we required lots of labour for these activities. Love from India (Haryana)
Honestly biggest positive to this is the compost/fertilizer that restores the soil. Healthy, nutrient rich soil produces more food, which can create more waste for the biogas plant, if it’s not sold or goes bad. But if a portion of the food went to feed cattle, pigs, chickens, fish and prawns (in aquaponic systems) first and then their waste was added to the other portion and then went to the biogas plant, it are actually increasing the overall positive output.
The first question is – Why is there wasted food. You literally cannot discount the food while at the market as it gets closer to being thrown away, that way poor people can at least eat. We need to rethink our ways of life soon before it gets worse. But the article is GREAT and what they do is good for our environment.
It sure uses a lot of petroleum, electricity, and equipment (embedded energy) to produce that energy. Also, all that uneaten food represents natural areas that were taken from wildlife. If this article addressed the bigger picture, including over consumption of energy and energy wasted by industrial food systems then it might not feel like such a greenwash.
Its insane how much GOOD FOOD gets wasted. those pumpkins he was chopping, it was absolutely perfect and edible !! Breaks my heart to see food being wasted but im glad its used up for something good. If only there was proper distribution of food nobody would starve. its really sad to see a farmers effort of months going to waste, people starving and on the other hand so much food wasted.
It is also possible to join a line from the septic tank, mix, filter, and compress the gases either to simply burn or to run an electric generator. The amount of output will depend upon the number of inhabitants in the area. The power output may not fulfill the demand. Nonetheless, something is better than nothing. Moreover, lessening pollution will always be a valuable achievement.
From airlines, restaurants, cruises, supermarkets etc. the amount of waste actually makes me dizzy. The reason so much is wasted is actually because of people attempting to sue businesses if the food gave them food poisoning. Even if a product passes a sell by date but is still good, apparently the supermarket can’t sell it. Extra food produced can’t go to soup kitchens because of the risk of food poisoning which is insane because of the food is actually good quality food.
“… why arent we all doing this” This is being done. Its being done on MASSIVE scales. NYC uses this for sewage and so do Toronto. The other reason is that the fertilizer produced is less useful than regular composting and in good aerated compost it doesnt release a lot of methane. Its the anaerobic digestion that makes the methane in bulk.
15years back when I was kid there was uncountable number of biogas in many houses at our village, my native is deep interior of thanjavur located in tamilnadu, India. Now nearly after 15 years only very few have biogas plant remaining all disappeared as they sold their animals due to lack of food to animals etc now biogas in our entire village is only in single digit that too less than 5,
My dad is a water and sewer contractor, and they have to limit their time and how far down they can go into some manholes because of the gas emissions displacing oxygen. All you’d need to do at some of these places is create choke points and literally, from human waste alone in a lot of cities you’d have peaker plant storage that could fill energy demand when renewables and batteries are down – without the need for expensive hydrogen….it literally already exists, all we need to do is poop lol
Am I missing something? Seemed cool at first but highly inefficient after thinking about it. They said each day they get 10 tons of food which is enough to feed 150 people for a year.. That’s the same as saying they get enough food a day to feed 54,750 people… All of that just to power a few lights and stoves to feed 800 for a day (but doesn’t include the actual food needed to feed them). Am I missing something? Seems like this would have better use as fertilizer to growth more food or feed animals.
Really smart use of resources. The food will be wasted anyway. Destined for a landfill where it will rot anyway. Intercept it and put it to use. In America we have a real big issue with waste food. Most food produced in the USA is ultimately wasted in some manner. There is waste at the farm itself, waste in transit, waste at the stores that sell it, and even waste at the home of the people who buy it. A long time ago I worked at a grocery store and you would be absolutely shocked at how much food is simply tossed out. Day old bread, hot foods that sat for longer than is considered “safe” by the health department, ugly produce (people are picky), “expired” milk/cheese/dairy/meat. If a carton of eggs has a single busted egg, the whole carton gets tossed.
We should do this in the US. If local dumps and landfils could get funding to build the treatment facility they could do this. They already collect all our trash, they’d just need people to have a separate trash can for compostables. They could partner with the local power and gas companies to get funding as well. Perhaps cut a deal where the power and gas companies will fund the building process and then they can buy the gas at a discounted rate for x years or until the debt is paid off. Then they will have to buy the gas at its normal value. I wish I was in a position to make this happen. It would be so cool and would help so many people. There would be jobs created and the cost of living would go down slightly if power and gas bills were lower. And it wouldn’t be like the power company would be losing money. They still get to charge for the power and they could get government subsides or tax breaks for adding green energy. It would be a win all around honestly.
Recent research shows that these stuff is better off turned into biomaterials Or fertilizer rather than biomass. Apparently photosynthesis is incredibly Inefficient and only traps 1 percent of sunlight,so biogas really isn’t much compared to actual solar. Ferrtilizers and biomaterials are a better investment.
This is a fix to a problem that shouldn’t exist, most of that food could of been given out for Free to the public, also if farms are of a size that they can’t avoid such waste. Then those farms are too big and centralised, the Land needs to be managed by communities for the communities, so only excess food is for storage through leaner parts of the year!. These big farms are depriving communities of common Land, and people’s ability to Sustain themselves!
People see this as something good but in truth it just confirms that the world hunger is not caused by the lack of the resources but by the uneven distribution of them. Imagine how much people could be fed if that food was not wasted but delivered to them. It’s just not profitable to do so. We need a system that focuses on the collective good and not on profit like Capitalism.