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The main aim of the study was to assess the environmental performance, through the application of the life cycle assessment, of a recycled paper production process focusing on the energy aspect. The production process occurred in a paper mill that produces packaging paper using paper and cardboard from source separation of municipal solid waste as raw materials. Two scenarios (S1 and S2) were defined by their energy supply sources. A cogeneration (CHP) system using natural gas for the combined production of thermal and electric energy was the source in S1. The Italian electricity grid (using the Italian country mix) and a natural gas boiler were the separate sources for electric and thermal energy, respectively, in S2. Finally, in order to evaluate the environmental effects on the results of the study about the variation in the natural gas supply source, four alternative Italian import mixes (M1, M2, M3, and M4) were defined by varying the contribution of the supplier countries. The environmental impacts were evaluated with ReCiPe 2016 (H) using both midpoint and endpoint approaches. The results showed that for both the scenarios, the energy consumption was the main cause of impacts mainly because of the natural gas contribution. The presence of the cogeneration (CHP) system generated significant environmental benefits compared with the use of energy provided by more conventional sources. The production and use of chemicals as well as the disposal of waste produced during the paper production were other environmental hotspots. The variation in the composition of the Italian import mix of natural gas, in terms of the supplier country’s contribution, had a significant influence on the results. The import of natural gas from Russia was the most impactful option. Since Russia is the country that contributes to the Italian import mix the most, in the next years, the use of natural gas in Italy could become increasingly impactful. Therefore, the replacement of natural gas with renewable sources is an urgent priority.

Ample interest for more efficient utilization of bio-based residues has emerged in the Nordic pulp and paper (P&P) industry, which uses virgin wood as feedstock. Although different bioenergy retrofit technologies for production of liquid, solid, and gaseous bioenergy products have been applied in the existing P&P mills, the number of installations remains small. The lack of profound knowledge of existing bioenergy retrofits hinders the replication and market uptake of potential technologies. This review synthesises the existing knowledge of European installations and identifies the key drivers and barriers for implementation to foster the market uptake of potential technologies. The bioenergy retrofits were reviewed in terms of technical maturity, drivers, barriers and market potential. Based on this evaluation, common drivers and barriers towards wider market uptake were outlined from political, economic, social, technical, environmental, and legal perspective. Technologies already commercially applied include anaerobic fermentation of sludge, bark gasification, tall oil diesel and bioethanol production, whereas lignin extraction, biomethanol production, hydrothermal liquefaction and hydrothermal carbonization are being demonstrated or first applications are under construction. The findings of this review show that a stable flow of residues at P&P mills creates a solid base for retrofitting. New innovative bio-based products would allow widening the companies' product portfolios and creating new businesses. Also, European Union's (EU) legislation drives towards advanced biofuels production. Wider uptake of the retrofitting technologies requires overcoming the barriers related to uncertainty of economic feasibility and unestablished markets for new products rather than technical immaturity. Publishers version

Recycling has attracted great attention in academia, because of the economic and environmental benefits to industry. An eco-friendly strategy for recycling office waste paper (WP) was used to sustainedly separate oil-water mixtures. The hydroxyl groups of cellulose endow WP with superlipophilic and superhydrophilic properties in air and superoleophobic features under water. WP could separate various oils from oil-water mixtures, with separation efficiencies exceeding 99%. Importantly, the superhydrophilic WP could separate oil-water mixtures containing HCl, NaOH, and NaCl with separation efficiency above 98.9% for at least 30 cycles. The superoleophobicity of WP was maintained in solutions of different pH values for at least 24 h, suggesting good durability and stability. This green method is renewable, clean, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. More importantly, the recycled office waste paper not only removes oil from oily wastewater (such as in oil spills) but also realizes the recycling of WP. This method could provide new insights into resource recycling.

Paper and pulp manufacturing industry produces versatile products from renewable feedstock that are easily recycled. It is the fourth largest industrial sector in terms of energy use. Much of the energy used comes from biomass derived fuels or high efficiency combined heat and power plants so the industry is not considered as carbon intensive. But at production paper making emits five times the CO2/tonne of steel; this is gradually removed from the atmosphere by the growth of replacement trees which can take between 7 and 90 years. This study reviewed existing literature to establish estimates for future energy requirements, and way that these could be met with minimum carbon emissions in a world where there are electricity grids with low carbon intensities, high recycling rates and growing demand for sustainable biomass. It was found that energy consumption could be reduced by 20% using technologies that have been demonstrated at an industrial scale. Most virgin pulp is made using the kraft chemical processing method. It was found that it should be possible to eliminate all fossil fuel use from this process, by combustion of by-product while exporting a small amount of electricity. Recycled paper is becoming the largest source of pulp. In this case the waste streams cannot provide sufficient energy to power the process, but process heat can be produced by burning some of the collected waste paper in steam plants or by using electric heat pumps. The energy needed to produce high quality office paper is nearly twice that required for non-deinked packaging paper. This couples with the lower pulp yields obtained with high quality pulp means that the environmentally preferred option for energy supply to the recycling process is dependent on the grade of pulp being produced.

Renewable and bio-based materials have gained great interest on an industrial scale owing to environmental issues. Paper industries also are constantly exploring bio-resources for intrinsic chemico-physical property enhancement of paper and paper products. These bio-resources will potentially increase their cyclability besides making paper compatible beyond traditional uses. Mechanical beating or use of chemical additives or the combination of these methods are widely used to improve critical paper characteristics such as strength, surface smoothness, density, brightness, filler retention, water and grease resistivity etc. These chemical additives as mill effluents are hazardous and have detrimental effect on environment. So, to move ahead of traditional practices, the present review discusses about the production and utility of abundantly available renewable bio-polymers and their products such as starch, cellulose, plant-based proteins, microbial biopolymers, animal-based biopolymers, and natural gums etc. They represent ample prospect in terms of research and development on their functionality and industrial applications.

Health and environmental impacts of fossil fuel utilization have urged the need to find alternative bioresources that could act as renewable source of energy called as biofuels. Bioethanol is currently the most produced biofuel. First-generation feedstocks result in food–fuel competition; hence, second-generation feedstocks are mostly preferred, which consist of lignocellulosic biomass, but they have a costly and difficult pre-treatment techniques that will add up to the total cost of the production of bioethanol. Pulp and paper industry is one among the fast-growing industries which simultaneously generates large amount of residues which are disposed in landfills. These residues are wastes from paper making that is rich in monosaccharides or even polysaccharides besides lignin and hence can be used as a proper feedstock for bioethanol production which requires lesser pre-treatment. It acts as zero or negative feedstock cost and has the potential for the production of cellulosic ethanol. The aim is to cover the recent developments and key challenges for the successful introduction of paper mill sludge in the bioethanol production industry. The covered subjects are sustainability of biofuel, paper-making process, Indian scenario of paper mills, and environmental impacts of paper mill sludge along with the pre-treatments employed on paper mill sludge for bioethanol production.

International audience; The hemp plant Cannabis sativa Linn, referring to industrial hemp, is a high-yielding annual industrial crop grown providing fibers from hemp stalk and oil from hemp seeds. Although hemp is a niche crop, hemp production is currently undergoing a renaissance. More than 30 countries grow hemp, with China being the largest hemp producing and exporting country. Europe and Canada are also important actors in the global hemp market. Traditionally, hemp as a fiber plant has been used for the production of apparels, fabrics, papers, cordages and building materials. The hurds, as waste by-product of fiber production, were used for bedding of animals, the seeds for human nutrition, e.g., as flour, and the oil for a wide range of purposes, from cooking to cosmetics. Hemp has also been an important crop throughout human history for medicine. Other more recent applications include materials for insulation and furniture, automotive composites for interior applications and motor vehicle parts, bioplastics, jewelry and fashion sectors, animal feed, animal bedding, and energy and fuel production. Foods containing hemp seed and oil are currently marketed worldwide for both animal and human nutrition. They also find applications in beverages and in neutraceutical products. Hemp oil is also used for cosmetics and personal care items, paints, printing inks, detergents and solvents. It is estimated that the global market for hemp consists of more than 25,000 products. Currently, the construction and insulation sector, paper and textile industries, and food and nutrition domains are the main markets while the cosmetics and automotive sector are growing markets. Innovative applications, e.g., in the medical and therapeutic domains, cosmeceuticals, phytoremediation, acoustic domain, wastewater treatment, biofuels, biopesticides and biotechnology, open new challenges. Hemp is also the object of numerous fundamental studies. This review presents and discusses the traditional and new uses of industrial hemp.

This position paper is the results of the work carried out by the DanishMulti-Actor Platform, which reflected onthe issue of land use in the light of climate change. In this position paper, the members of the MAP, from different backgrounds,wish to jointly highlight a number of important themes and key messages in relation to land use in Denmark, which politicians, civil servants, planners and local developers, amongst others, should take on board and act upon to the greatest possible extent in order to support and promote a green and sustainable transition, in which land use is central.Four themes have been highlighted in the document: renewable energy, food production and lowland set-aside, land ownership, and public governance and stakeholder consultation.

A series of dye-sensitized solar cells have been constructed using titania-rich paper industry waste materials. The cells obtained were able to produce solar electricity, but with relatively poor photon-to-current efficiencies reaching only 0.47% and short circuit photocurrent densities up to 1.14 mA × cm−2, but reasonable fill factors and very good open circuit photovoltage reaching 67% and 719 mV, respectively. The titania-rich waste samples were prepared by removal of water and post-production organic residues and well characterized with XRD, XRF, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, EDS and UV–vis techniques. This paper presents an alternative solution for green energy production and conversion of pollutants to useful materials.

When portability, low cost, and green energy requirements are considered, the search for an electricity generator harvesting environmental energy based on available cheap commercial materials and simple fabrication techniques becomes significantly important. In this study, the capability of ultrasoft and cuttable paper-based triboelectric nanogenerator (P-TENG) to harvest mechanical energy is demonstrated. The P-TENG maintains the excellent softness of tissue paper and has the characteristics of light weight (~ 87 g/m2), high electric conductivity (6 Ω/square), and low cost (~ $3.00/m2). More importantly, the P-TENG can be cut by the end-user to modify its size and shape and still function properly. The mechanical energies available during cleaning processes, the energy associated with the body's motion, sound energy, and wind energy can be directly harvested by using the P-TENG. The high portability of the P-TENG, the simple and scalable fabrication processes, low cost, and its ability to harvest mechanical energy make the P-TENG important for the development of green, portable, energy-harvesting devices.

In the present study, pre-treated paper mill sludge (PMS) was evaluated extensively as a substrate for production of acetone-butanol-ethanol using Clostridium sporogenes NCIM 2337. The PMS was subj...

Along with the unceasing growth of worldwide economic and the associated issues on resources, energy and environment, clean energy generating technologies that are based on recyclable materials, if possible, may become the future trend of development. Here, we report the design of a cheap, lightweight, and recyclable single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that utilizes waste paper as the triboelectric material. Under the current strategy, we successfully developed green energy machines without vastly increasing the mining of various critical minerals around the world. The as-designed TENG could not only collect and convert mechanical energy into electricity with sound efficiency, but also has the merit for continuous reuse and quick construction. The maximum output power density is as high as 171 mW·m−2 at a resistance of 130 MΩ and could be integrated into a book for monitoring reading actions, thus providing a new approach to the low-cost, green and sustainable self-powered electronic systems.

Indonesia has targeted to reach 23% of renewable energy share by 2025. In order to meet the target, many researchers have focused on the explorations of renewable energy resources. One of the potential solutions to meet the target is the agricultural wastes, include corn cobs and areca nut fiber. In this study, the calorific value of corn cobs and areca nut fiber are tested. The corn cobs and areca nut fiber are collected from the farmers in Sumatera Utara province of Indonesia. In addition, the Paper waste is also tested. A bomb calorimeter of IKA C6000 is used to measure the energy content of the biomass. The results show that the calorific value of Corn cobs and Areca nut fiber is 5573 Cal/g and 4946 Cal/g, respectively.By using the average yearly production of Corn and Areca nut, these calorific values similar to 4,539 TOE and 4,653 TOE, respectively. If the potency can be used to replace the coal as an alternative fuel, this potency will reduce the Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. The potency of mitigation GHG by replacing Corncob and Areca nut fiber are 18,306 and 18,491 ton of CO2e.

The economic feasibility of retrofitting an amine based post-combustion CO2 capture process to an existing Kraft pulp mill and an existing integrated pulp and board mill has been assessed. This study builds on the technical assessment of the energy performance of the mills when retrofitting a post-combustion CO2 capture process by Onarheim et al. (2017). Between 75 to 100% of the CO2 emissions from the pulp and paper industry originate from the combustion of biomass. If the raw material is sourced sustainably, these emissions are categorized as carbon neutral. Applying sustainably managed biomass in the pulp and paper processes and capturing the resulting CO2 for permanent storage enables the industry to go carbon negative. In this study, the economic impact of retrofitting CO2 capture from the flue gases of the recovery boiler, the multi-fuel boiler and the lime kiln were assessed. The levelized cost of pulp and the cost of CO2 avoided were evaluated based on six different scenarios varying the CO2 tax, incentives for renewable electricity production, with and without recognizing biogenic CO2 emissions as neutral (exempting CO2 emissions from tax or not), and rewarding captured and permanently stored CO2 with negative emissions credit. Results show that the pulp and paper industry has a potential for realizing feasible implementation of large-scale industrial Bio-CCS. For cases where 60-90% of total site CO2 emissions are captured, the cost of avoided CO2 amounts to 52-66/t for the Kraft pulp mill and 71-89/t for the integrated pulp and board mill. The cost of avoided CO2, and thus the realization of Bio-CCS in the pulp and paper industry, is strongly dependent on prevailing policy frameworks such as the EU ETS. In order to reach a levelized cost of pulp similar to the reference mill without CO2 capture, a negative CO2 emission credit of 60-70/t CO2 for the Kraft pulp mill and 70-80/t CO2 for the integrated pulp and board mill will be required. As long as biogenic CO2 emissions that are captured and permanently stored are not recognized as negative and rewarded accordingly there is no economic incentive for the owners of pulp and paper mills to implement CCS. The only way to get the pulp and paper industry to implement and deploy Bio-CCS will need the support of the decision-makers in promoting the right policy framework and regulations to encourage the investment such as strong incentives for negative emissions which are bankable during the long term operation of the mills.