LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT - IT IS POSSIBLE TO ALLOCATE ENVIRONMENTAL BURDENS FAIRLY TO THE PAPER CHAIN

Life-cycle assessments (LCA) as a tool for the evaluation of the envir onmental burdens occurring during the life-cycle oi a product are incr easing in significance for environmental oriented decisions in industr y, trade and politics. However, there are still several methodological issues which are not yet clarified. In the international discussions on ICA an agreement has been generally achieved concerning the structu re of LCAs based on the four steps scoping/goal definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and evaluation. The methodological framewo rk for scoping/goal definition and inventory analysis is widely develo ped. in the fields of impact assessment and evaluation several methodo logical alternatives are under discussion. Therefore, most oi the publ ished LCAs focus on the inventory analysis evaluating material and ene rgy flows as system inputs as well as outputs in terms of air- and wat er-borne emissions or solid waste. The results of an inventory analysi s are beneficial e.g. for ecological improvements in product developme nt or for weak point analyses and process optimizations. Even with inv entory analyses, problems must be solved with the allocation of enviro nmental burdens (energy, emissions, waste) related to the production o f primary raw materials between products made of these primary raw mat erials and those made of recycled material. This issue is a challenge when waste paper is recycled. The paper deals with methodology of LCA focusing on allocation issues. In a case study two allocation approach es are presented and discussed.