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Abstract: The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW), such as plastics and paper, is commonly recycled in Japan, but a considerable room for improvement still remains. Energy intensive industries, such as steel, cement, paper, and power plants, have great capacities to accept waste plastics and paper to substitute their fossil resource consumption and to reduce carbon emissions. We propose a “smart recycling system” that utilizes existing industrial facilities that have high energy efficiency, for establishing a cost-effective and robust recycling system. The core of the smart recycling system is the smart recycling center (SRC) that establishes a new recycling pathway connecting spatially diffuse municipal sources to facilities in energy intensive industries. This paper discusses the design and function of an SRC and estimates the CO2 emissions and costs related to the operation and construction of the SRC. We also evaluated the cost effectiveness of the smart recycling system, taking into account sorted collection, incineration, processes in the SRC, and processes in industrial facilities. We estimated that the system could result in a reduction of approximately 100kg of CO2 emissions per capita per year without a significant increase in cost. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The pulp and paper industry is placed in a unique position as biomass used as feedstock is now in increasingly high demand from the energy sector. Increased demand for biomass increases pressure on the availability of this resource, which might strengthen the need for recycling of paper. In this study, we calculate the energy use and carbon dioxide emissions for paper production from three pulp types. Increased recycling enables an increase in biomass availability and reduces life-cycle energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. Recovered paper as feedstock leads to lowest energy use (22GJ/t) and CO2 emissions (−1100kgCO2/t) when biomass not used for paper production is assumed to be converted into bio-energy. Large differences exist between paper grades in e.g. electricity and heat use during production, fibre furnish, filler content and recyclability. We found large variation in energy use over the life-cycle of different grades. However, in all paper grades, life-cycle energy use decreases with increased recycling rates and increased use of recovered fibres. The average life-cycle energy use of the paper mix produced in The Netherlands, where the recycling rate is approximately 75%, is about 14GJ/t. This equals CO2 savings of about 1tCO2/t paper if no recycled fibres would be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]