Life cycle assessment of paper manufacturing: Environmental and human health impacts

The reduction of production waste impact started to be an important subject in the context of industrial development. In the last years the authorities became to be interested in the reduction of impacts generated by the large amount of waste, by recycling or reuse in processes. In this context, the present study is developed to help decision makers to take the best decision regarding the management of production waste from paper manufacturing so as to mitigate its impacts. According to the results obtained after an analysis of the production waste conducted in the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) framework, the recycling of this type of waste can reduce considerable the impact on the environment and human health by reducing tree cutting and increasing the absorption capacity of CO
₂
from the environment.