NCASI’s Sustainability and Climate Program focuses on characterizing the potential impacts of a variety of activities along the value chain and identifying cost-effective ways to reduce these impacts. Program activities address several sustainability-related questions that are of particular interest to the forest products industry’s customers and other stakeholders.
Sustainability-related priorities are associated with a broad range of activities in the forest products value chain, starting with the use of raw materials and ending with the management of industry products at end-of-life. This area of NCASI’s research program helps members effectively address environmental sustainability-related internal and marketplace-oriented information, education, and communication needs. NCASI provides timely technical resources to member companies as they seek to cost-effectively address a variety of sustainability topics, including contributing to the development of climate change-related regulations and managing an array of sustainability issues of interest.
Sustainability & Climate Program
Climate change science and public policy are evolving in ways that could have implications for the forest products industry. GHG limits on industrial sources are being implemented in some jurisdictions, raising technical concerns requiring continued NCASI attention in support of Member Companies. Also, benefits of using biomass fuels and products…
Learn More
The science of life cycle assessment (LCA) is in constant evolution. A significant amount of research is undertaken on the improvement of environmental indicators, regionalization, LCA of complex systems, and consequential LCA, as well as in rendering LCA results more useful for decision making and communication. At the same time,…
Learn More
Reducing energy use is an important goal for the forest products sector. The industry makes extensive use of efficient combined heat and power (CHP) systems, often fueled by carbon neutral biomass, to supply steam and electricity to drive their processes. It is important that these CHP systems are accurately characterized…
Learn More
Water sustainability initiatives and activities continue to proliferate, and it is important that water use in the forest products industry is properly understood and characterized within these initiatives, including consideration of the water/energy nexus. The challenge for many Member Companies will be to demonstrate responsible use of water while being…
Learn More
The forest products sector makes use of both fresh and recycled fiber, and both are required to fulfill the sector’s raw material needs. There continue to be questions raised by industry stakeholders regarding the effects of using recovered/recycled fiber versus fresh fiber, and the associated implications related to land use.
Learn More
The increased difficulty and costs associated with permitting, constructing and operating new landfills has caused many in the industry to focus their attention on reducing waste streams and extending the life of their current landfills. This, in turn, has generated new interest in concepts such as the “Circular Economy” and “Zero Waste” and might affect decision‐making in terms of managing solid residuals.
Learn More
Social issues continue to influence public perception of corporate environmental responsibility. Valuing and monetizing nature as a balancing point to industrial development will accelerate, and concepts such as natural capital are likely to increasingly influence policy development. NCASI’s objective in this focus area is to aid in the design and…
Learn More