Evaluation of Best Available Techniques for Paper Recycling Processes Using Life Cycle Analysis

Date

2025-9-01

Author

Ertuğrul, Kaan

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Paper recycling is the process of converting waste paper into new paper products, enabling savings in energy, water, and other resources, yet the process also generates environmental burdens. The European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Bureau outlines best available techniques (BATs) in the BAT reference (BREF) documents to reduce environmental impacts, costs, and resource use. The Production of Pulp, Paper and Board and Energy Efficiency BREFs provide several BATs applicable to paper recycling. However, selecting the most suitable measures requires quantifying their environmental impacts under facility-specific conditions. This study applied the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to evaluate selected BATs and other technologies for a paper recycling facility through scenario analysis. The facility’s inputs and outputs were inventoried, and the analysis was conducted with the help of SimaPro software using the ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H) method, with a functional unit of 1 ton of recycled paper produced and a gate-to-gate system boundary. Five scenarios, including the implementation of selected BAT options in the facility, were assessed. The results showed that the drying unit was the largest contributor to impacts, accounting for 44.2% of the total score, primarily due to coal and wood consumption. Replacing grid-supplied electricity with rooftop solar PV achieved the most significant improvement, reducing the overall impact by 59.1% and substantially lowering fine particulate matter formation and global warming impacts. In contrast, adding a deinking process increased the total impact by 54.6% due to higher energy, water, and chemical demands, alongside greater waste generation.

Subject Keywords

Paper Recycling, Life Cycle Assessment, Best Available Techniques, Energy Efficiency

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116090

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis