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Frontiers of Research in Sustainable Forest Products

Frontiers of Research in Sustainable Forest Products. SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry October 25, 2006 Ron Brown MeadWestvaco Corporation. Research Frontiers – Sustainable Products. Scope: Sustainability of forest-based products

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Frontiers of Research in Sustainable Forest Products

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  1. Frontiers of Research inSustainable Forest Products SUNY College of Environmental Science & ForestryOctober 25, 2006Ron BrownMeadWestvaco Corporation

  2. Research Frontiers – Sustainable Products • Scope: Sustainability of forest-based products • $154 billion in 2004 – paper and paperboard products (AF&PA) • $103 billion in 2004 – wood products (AF&PA) • Assumes sustainable forestry • Questions: • What does sustainability mean in forest products? • What drivers and trends are influencing our products? • What current research activities address sustainable products? • What research frontiers are noteworthy for sustainable products?

  3. What does sustainability mean in forest products? • World Business Council for Sustainable Development • www.wbcsd.org “We define sustainable development as forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” • Wal-Mart • Kurt Boyd, Wal-Mart, October 9, 2006, presentation at WMU • Sustainability – actions that support the quality of life now and for generations to come • Europe – PIRA SustainPack Conference, Dec 2005 • Cyclic, solar, safe

  4. What does sustainability mean in packaging? • Sustainable Packaging Coalition www.sustainablepackaging.org Sustainable packaging • Is beneficial, safe & healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle • Meets market criteria for performance and cost • Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy • Maximizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials • Is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices • Is made from materials healthy in all probable end of life scenarios • Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy • Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial cradle to cradle cycles

  5. Sustainability and packaging – Wal-Mart www.walmart.com • Wal-Mart environmental goals for 2025 – • To be supplied 100% by renewable energy • To create zero waste • To sell products that sustain our resources and our environment Wal-Mart is committed to • Reducing solid waste from US stores and clubs by 25% in next three years • Working with suppliers to create less packaging overall, increase product packaging recycling, and increase use of post-consumer material • Replacing some private brand packaging with alternatives that are more sustainable and recyclable within the next two years

  6. Sustainability and packaging – Wal-Mart www.walmart.com • Wal-Mart Launches 5-Year Plan to Reduce Packaging • (Sept 22, 2006, News Release) • Packaging scorecard – rate 60,000 worldwide suppliers on ability to reduce overall packaging by 5% • Begin in 2008 • 2006 – packaging scorecard with 2,000 private label suppliers • Savings of $10.98 billion from 5% of 10% of global packaging industry, $3.4 billion to Wal-Mart • Reducing packaging on fewer than 300 toys last year, Wal-Mart saved 3425 tons of corrugated board, 1358 barrels of oil, $3.5 million/yr in transportation costs • Cost-neutral is okay • - Per Kurt Boyd, a Wal-Mart buyer, 10/9/06 @ WMU

  7. Sustainability and printing papers – Time Inc. • Time Inc. • World’s largest magazine publisher – 150 titles • 2005 Sustainability Report • Ann S. Moore, Chairman and CEO: • Sustainability for us refers to creating a durable business that provides jobs to communities and returns to shareholders for the long haul and that protects all our human and natural resources. A sustainable company will deliver at least as many benefits to future generations as it does to people alive today. Meeting economic, social and environmental goals are the three pillars of sustainability, and those goals are not in conflict.

  8. Sustainability and printing papers – Time Inc. • Time Inc. 2005 Sustainability Report • For 15 years, Time has been working with paper suppliers and printers to develop lighter grades of paper that will still hold up well on the presses and maintain the satisfying texture of the magazines. The results have been remarkable: in TIME, for example, the paper is nearly 18% lighter than it was in 1989. • Life cycle analysis – greenhouse gases in magazine publishing:

  9. What drivers are influencing forest products?

  10. Products must perform while being sustainable Forest-based products need many properties • Cost-effective for requirements of application • Convert at expected speeds with no degradation of performance • Print with acceptable image quality • Survive distribution hazards • Perform at conditions of use • Satisfy safety, health, and regulatory requirements • Designed for ease of use • …. • Sustainable – low mass, recyclable, biodegradable

  11. Likely trends in forest products • Products will change and evolve • Brand and product marketing • New performance features, new products • Cost vs. performance as materials prices fluctuate • Sustainability will grow in importance • More renewable resources • Less weight, less trash • More biodegradable or recyclable • New technologies will be adopted • Biopolymers, green chemistry, . . . . • Energy sources – biorefinery, solar, wind, . . . . • Nanomaterials • Smart packaging, active packaging, . . . .

  12. What current research activities address sustainable forest-based products? • Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance • Forest biorefinery, breakthrough manufacturing, wood products • Nano in FPI • European Union 6th and 7th Framework Programs • Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform (FTP) • SustainPack • US government • Forest Products Lab, National labs, NREL • DOE Industries of the Future • National Nanotechnology Initiative • Universities & research institutes • Institutes – IPST@GaTech, STFI, Paprican, YKI • Pulp & paper – SUNY ESF, WMU, NCSU, Miami, . . . . • Packaging – MSU, Clemson • Industry & supplier R&D

  13. SustainPack – Sustainable Packaging • Objective: • To establish breakthroughs in fiber-based packaging value chain • 4-year program: June 2004 – May 2008 • 35 partners, 13 countries in Europe • 36 million Euro budget (19 million from EU 6th Framework) • Coordinated by STFI-Packforsk www.sustainpack.com

  14. Nano in FPI – Agenda 2020 • Nanotechnology in Forest Products Industry • Task group in Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance • Establishing links with National Nanotechnology Initiative and other industries • Industry CBAN being formed • Links with chemical industry nano programs • Research priorities • Breakthroughs in performance/weight ratio for paper and paperboard • Control of water interactions with wood and paper products • Wood-derived fuels, chemicals, biopolymers • Improvements in manufacturing efficiency • Control of optical interactions with paper and paperboard

  15. What themes are promising frontiers for research? • Reduce • Reuse • Recycle • Remove • Renewable • Right-sized • Effective • Revenue • New • Moisture-resistant • Strong and stiff • Flexible • Inexpensive • …. • Biodegradable • Compostable • Safe • Environmentally-friendly • Energy-efficient

  16. Get weight out! • Reduce weight of paper, paperboard, and wood products cost-effectively while maintaining performance properties • Opportunity exists for breakthrough approaches • Specific modulus (E/r) of wood matches steel • Paper, paperboard, and wood composites are not as strong as wood

  17. Get weight out! – SustainPack • Reduce weight of paper and paperboard cost-effectively while maintaining performance properties • SustainPack – Target reduction of 30% in paperboard • Concept for 30% weight out of 3-ply structure presented at SustainPack Conference in Dec 2005 • Apply breakthrough innovations using new nano-structuring technologies

  18. Get weight out! • Reduce weight of paper and paperboard cost-effectively while maintaining performance properties • Agenda 2020 Breakthrough Manufacturing – 15-20% • Nano in FPI – Stretch goal of 40%, or 45 lb = 60 lb • Research – technical approaches • Stiffness and strength improvement • Fiber engineering, sheet structure • Surface treatments • Nanoscience – e.g., LbL by Lvov showed 50% tensile gain • Biomimicry • Strength – imitate natural structures • Opacity – especially in lightweight printing papers • Fiber bonding fundamentals • Non-fiber materials

  19. Get oil out! • Use renewable resources instead of oil-based materials • Make paperboard and wood products that reduce the demand for plastics • Fiber/polymer composites • Nanostructures, biomimicry • Develop biopolymers and biomaterials from wood to replace oil-based polymers and chemicals • Forest biorefinery feedstocks • Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and other polymers • Green chemistry – e.g. lignin-based phenolics • Use renewable materials and renewable energy in manufacture of paper, paperboard, and wood products

  20. Control effect of moisture! • Develop new approaches to control the interactions of water and moisture with paper, paperboard, and wood products • Control hygroexpansivity of paper and paperboard • Understand nanoscale structures in fibers and how water affects them • Turn wettability off and on • Develop barriers and mechanisms for controlling water transport within wood and paper products • Increase rate of removing water from wood and paper products

  21. Add new features! • Introduce new performance features to paper, paperboard, and wood products • Helpful for long-term growth and sustainability of forest products industry • Optical features achieved through nanoscience, photonics, and biomimicry • Abalone shells, pearlescent appearance • Color and shade without dyes and pigments • Brightness without optical brighteners • Printed electronics and sensors • Super-high strength products • Flexible, formable, shapeable

  22. Use new processes! • New manufacturing processes can make our operations more sustainable and efficient • 61-77% of greenhouse gas emissions in magazine publishing are from pulp & paper mills – Time Inc study • Renewable energy, less oil and natural gas for energy • Efficiency and sustainability – pulping, bleaching, recovery, papermaking • Application of nanoscience in operations – mixing, refining, sheet forming, fiber bonding, drying, . . . . • New pulping, bleaching, chemical recovery processes • Cost-effective use of waste and recycled materials

  23. Create new technologies! • Be creative and innovative. • Imagine . . . . • Carbohydrate industry rather than wood and fiber • Manufacture fibril/fiber structure from sugars synthetically • Synthetic photosynthesis – carbon dioxide to sugars • Transparent paperboard • . . . . • . . . .

  24. What research frontiers are noteworthy for sustainable products? • Get weight out – less weight at equal performance • Get oil out – renewable resources • Control effect of moisture • Add new features • Use new processes • Create new technologies

  25. Thank You

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