Sustainability 2021 , 13 , 9069
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Transportation of the Eucalyptus pulp from Brazil to Italy was performed by a con- tainer ship (about 10,000 km) followed by road transport for an average of 300 km by truck (Euro 3, 34–40 t). 2.1.3.2. Softwood Plantation and Softwood Pulp Production Because Sweden is both the leading virgin pulp producer in the EU and the biggest European exporter of pulp for Italy [25], this study assumed that all the virgin pulp originated in Sweden. The softwood timber production process was obtained from the GaBi database. It is assumed that the required transportation of the harvested wood from the forest field to the pulp company is 100 km by truck (Euro 3, 34–40 t). The pulp production process was modelled according to the Ecoinvent v3.0 process “Sulphate pulp, Scandinavian wood, elemental chlorine free (ECF) bleached, at plant”. The transportation of Swedish virgin pulp to Italy was carried out about 1000 km by ship from Stockholm to Rostock (DE), and approximately 1300 km by truck from Rostock toMilan. 2.1.3.3. Hardwood Plantation and Hardwood Pulp Production According to FAVINI srl, hardwood fibers are critical in the production of graphic paper. The process of producing hardwood timber was obtained from the GaBi database. It was assumed that the transportation of the harvested wood from the forest field to the pulp company is around 100 km by big truck (Euro 3, 34–40 t). The process for producing pulp was modelled in accordance with the Ecoinvent v3.0 process “Sulphate pulp, Scandinavian wood, ECF bleached, at plant”. Transportation of hardwood virgin pulp to Italy is performed by truck (from the middle of Slovakia to Milan, which is about 1000 km). 2.1.3.4. Paper Recycling and Pulp from Wasted Paper The process of pulp production for this material was obtained from Ecoinvent v3.0 “Sulphate pulp, ECF bleached”. It was assumed that 75% of the used paper is collected. During the sorting process, 2.5% of the harvested paper could not proceed with pulping (because of metal parts, plastic parts, etc.). This data was obtained from Ecoinvent v3.0. According to the European Declaration of Paper Recycling [35], the final recycling rate is 72.5%. It is assumed that there is a system of urban/industrial collection carried out with small trucks (up to 7.5 t). The average distance is 50 km. The wasted paper from the storing urban site is then transported to a dedicated sorting and recycling site with a truck of 26–28 t for about 100 km where it is sorted and transported to the pulp industry (which we hypothesize is located in northern Italy). As reported in ASSOCARTA 2017, Italy imports only around 7% of the recycled paper, the majority of which originates in Germany (about 21%). It was decided to model only the national recycling system and to exclude imports. Transportation of recycled-paper-pulp is carried out by truck (Euro 3, 34–40 t) for around 500 km. 2.1.3.5. Coffee Silverskin Production It was assumed that the roasted coffee travels with a truck for approximately 375 km on average from the roasting plant to the micronization site (from Trieste to Cuneo: about 600 km, Genova-Cuneo: around 150 km; average: 375 km). Only the energy consumption was considered for the micronization process: 450 kWh per 1 t of silverskin [36]. Furthermore, the following assumptions were made in creating the LCA: • The micronized CSS travels for an average of about 350 km to reach the final paper- company—mean Italian distance from mills able to micronize silverskin to paper producing companies [25,37]. • Silverskin replaces 15% of the virgin pulp used in the “conventional paper production” system [18].
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