IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v4y2021i2d10.1038_s41893-020-00624-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Limited climate benefits of global recycling of pulp and paper

Author

Listed:
  • Stijn Ewijk

    (Yale University
    University College London
    University College London)

  • Julia A. Stegemann

    (University College London)

  • Paul Ekins

    (University College London)

Abstract

A circular economy is expected to achieve sustainability goals through efficient and circular use of materials. Waste recycling is an important part of a circular economy. However, for some materials, the potential environmental benefits of recycling are unclear or contested. Here, we focus on the global paper life cycle, which generates 1.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and estimate the climate change mitigation potential of circularity. We model material use, energy use and emissions up to 2050 for various levels of waste recycling and recovery. We show that emission pathways consistent with a 2 °C global warming target require strong reductions in the carbon intensity of electricity and heat generation. We also show that additional recycling yields small or negative climate change mitigation benefits when it requires high-carbon grid electricity and displaces virgin pulping that is powered by low-carbon pulping by-products. The results indicate that circular economy efforts should carefully consider the energy implications of recycling.

Suggested Citation

  • Stijn Ewijk & Julia A. Stegemann & Paul Ekins, 2021. "Limited climate benefits of global recycling of pulp and paper," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 180-187, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41893-020-00624-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00624-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00624-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-020-00624-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Takuma Watari & André Cabrera Serrenho & Lukas Gast & Jonathan Cullen & Julian Allwood, 2023. "Feasible supply of steel and cement within a carbon budget is likely to fall short of expected global demand," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Man, Yi & Yan, Yukun & Wang, Xu & Ren, Jingzheng & Xiong, Qingang & He, Zhenglei, 2023. "Overestimated carbon emission of the pulp and paper industry in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    3. Alessio Miatto & Nargessadat Emami & Kylie Goodwin & James West & Mohammad Sadegh Taskhiri & Thomas Wiedmann & Heinz Schandl, 2024. "Australia's circular economy metrics and indicators," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(2), pages 216-231, April.
    4. Hatem Abushammala & Muhammad Adil Masood & Salma Taqi Ghulam & Jia Mao, 2023. "On the Conversion of Paper Waste and Rejects into High-Value Materials and Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Malak Anshassi & Timothy G. Townsend, 2023. "The hidden economic and environmental costs of eliminating kerb-side recycling," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(8), pages 919-928, August.
    6. Furszyfer Del Rio, Dylan D. & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Griffiths, Steve & Bazilian, Morgan & Kim, Jinsoo & Foley, Aoife M. & Rooney, David, 2022. "Decarbonizing the pulp and paper industry: A critical and systematic review of sociotechnical developments and policy options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Jürgen Belle & Daniela Hirtz & Sven Sängerlaub, 2024. "Expert Survey on the Impact of Cardboard and Paper Recycling Processes, Fiber-Based Composites/Laminates and Regulations, and Their Significance for the Circular Economy and the Sustainability of the ," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-24, August.
    8. Giovanni Vinti & Mentore Vaccari, 2022. "Solid Waste Management in Rural Communities of Developing Countries: An Overview of Challenges and Opportunities," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-14, November.
    9. Jun-Der Leu & Larry Jung-Hsing Lee & Yi-Wei Huang & Chia-Chi Huang, 2021. "Sustainable Supply Chains: Evidence from Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41893-020-00624-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.