How bio-based materials help tackle climate change
A landmark agreement to combat climate change was reached by 55 countries at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 12 December 2015. To date, 186 of 197 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement, promising to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Experts claim that we need to maximise forests as carbon sinks and opt for more bio-based products. Sustainable forest management and bio-based materials could be a key part of the solution. Progress is being made, but much more needs to be done.
Land use and emissions
Around the world, multiple efforts are underway to contribute to the climate goal and find the best methods for achieving it. The IPCC’s Climate Change and Land report highlights how land sectors will become more crucial in climate efforts and how sustainable forest management can help mitigate climate change.
“We need to put more effort into the land sectors, such as forestry and agriculture and focus on those actions that can cut emissions and may also have health benefits, such as less air pollution or developmental benefits such as access to modern energy,” says Francis X. Johnson, Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute and contributor to the IPCC report.
The challenge of transforming land use
“We have seen a shift in the energy sector, and that transformation is well underway. The costs of solar and wind energy have come down, and renewable energy is an area where we have made progress. Land use, however, has been slower to transform,” says Johnson.
“We use a tremendous amount of land for animal feed production now. More than half of all the biomass we use is for animal feed, which is a staggering figure.” Land activities such as animal feed production emit an enormous amount of CO₂, yet they remain difficult to regulate.
Why regulation is lagging
Johnson attributes the slow progress in land transformation to the challenge of regulating diverse systems for forests, livestock, landfill, and agriculture. “Their emissions are all regulated differently and not tied to a price like energy is with a [more straightforward] emissions trading system,” he explains.
Reducing emissions from land use, such as those associated with agricultural production, deforestation, and livestock, is essential. At the same time, changes in land use management can offset these emissions and play a vital role in reducing CO₂.
Forests are a dual climate solution
According to the IPCC report, land sectors are responsible for approximately 23% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions. Significant land-based mitigation measures that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere will likely be needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s targets.
“When forestry products are used as a substitution for plastic, metal, or cement products, then the contribution to climate change mitigation is improved further”
– Francis X. Johnson
Forests work as carbon sinks, capturing CO₂. A key challenge lies in maximising their carbon sink potential while using them to produce bio-based materials and products. “There are ways to do both, of course, like in Sweden and other countries where there is a highly managed and efficient forestry system where you don’t remove more wood biomass than you put back – and they might even plant a bit more for the carbon sink,” says Johnson.
Substitution matters
“When forestry products are used as a substitution for plastic, metal, or cement products, then the contribution to climate change mitigation is improved further,” Johnson explains. Wood, paper and paperboard are renewable and not as energy-intensive to produce as steel, plastics, or concrete.
“The more you can improve the bio-based content in a sustainable way and the more you can contribute to biological processes instead of chemical ones, you are making a contribution to improving the climate,” says Johnson. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a key tool for assessing these impacts.
Bio-based packaging for a sustainable economy
Senior Researcher Michael Sturges of RISE has extensive experience in sustainability and packaging. He recently completed the BioPackLCA project, designed to help stakeholders improve LCA evaluations for bio-based packaging and single-use plastics.
“For a sustainable economy, we need to have sustainable materials, and logically it means moving towards a bio-based economy where we are utilising sustainably produced renewable materials and circular materials. There are huge climate benefits from bio-based packaging, particularly fibre-based packaging,” Sturges says, adding, “The forest will become an even bigger resource in the future for our society as a source of materials.”
Moving away from single-use plastics
“Right now, everyone is aware of the need to address key environmental challenges and move away from single-use plastics,” says Sturges. “There is a strong need for companies to find alternative solutions to single-use plastics in packaging applications, and bio-based packaging can offer multiple advantages.”
These advantages include recyclability, compostability, and biodegradability. “Fibre-based packaging is generally recyclable, potentially compostable, and more likely to biodegrade in the environment if it’s mishandled by consumers and becomes litter,” he adds.
“There is a strong need for companies to find alternative solutions to single-use plastics in packaging applications, and bio-based packaging can offer multiple advantages.”
– Michael Sturges
Innovation and future functionality
“Paper and paperboard packaging have a strong foothold in the market, and bio-based packaging, in general, will gain even more market share as society scales up and costs for biopolymers decrease,” says Sturges, adding that more innovations will result from combining different solutions to increase functionality.
“For example, how do we combine fibre-based board and paper packaging with biopolymers in a way that delivers greater functionality – or process fibres to create solutions that have not been thought of before, as in the Paboco paper bottle project? They are thinking of how to use and process biomaterials in ways that haven’t been done before, and this is very important.”
The shifting economics of fossil-based materials
Sturges also points out that fossil-based materials might become more expensive over time. “The costs for fossil-based materials are likely to go up because of the responsibility movement. In the past, producers were not accountable for paying the full costs of managing materials at end-of-life. This will change as higher recycling targets for fossil-based materials push up the cost of ownership for those solutions. This in turn will help make bio-based materials more competitive.”
It’s a necessary step toward a fossil-free future, where packaging no longer relies on oil-based polymers. “Companies that don’t start switching to more bio-based packaging will also experience consumer pushback,” says Sturges. “The younger generation has become exceptionally active around environmental issues and plastic, fossil-based packaging in particular.”
Supply risks and market pressure
“The supply and demand for fossil-based materials can be upset by global politics and also the need to leave fossil fuels in the ground,” says Sturges. Petroleum-based polymers are a byproduct of the oil and gas industry, and this is partly what keeps their cost down. But if we leave oil and gas in the ground, then that changes the economics for plastics, as it may create a supply problem for the chemicals needed. They will no longer be available or will need to be drilled just to make plastic polymers – and that won’t happen.”
“We know bio-based solutions can’t always achieve the same level of performance as plastics today when it comes to the oxygen and moisture barrier, but there is a lot of work going on to address those challenges, and maybe some compromise is needed too,” he adds.
A double-punch to the climate crisis
“I think companies will be affected by the rising costs of fossil-based materials and managing their end-of-life,” says Sturges. “I recommend that companies talk to suppliers to see what materials are available and work closely with them to close the gap in performance and cost.”
As Francis X. Johnson sums it up, “Combining sustainable land management while advancing a new innovative bio-economy agenda that emphasises bio-based products offers a highly effective double-punch to the climate crisis by simultaneously improving carbon sinks AND reducing fossil emissions through product substitution.”