Analysis of the global warming potential for wood waste recycling systems

• Wood waste is a renewable resource that can be recycled for particleboard production or energy production.
• The particleboard from wood wastes produces −428 kg CO2-eq compared to particleboard from fresh woods.
• The energy production using wood wastes is −154 kg CO2-eq compared to that of the combined heat and power generation process.
• Using the Weibull distribution, it was estimated that the average service life of particleboard was 14 years.
• The particleboard production scenario has a greater environmental benefit when considering temporary carbon storage.

Wood waste is a renewable resource that can be recycled for particleboard production or energy production. Particleboard is the most common product of wood waste recycling, and energy production using biomass has been highlighted for energy recovery and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in recent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the environmental benefits of particle board production and energy production using wood wastes. The system expansion method was applied to the quantification of the environmental benefit of two different recycling systems. Life cycle assessment methodology was used to analyze the environmental impacts of the systems, and the functional unit was 1 tonne of wood wastes. The results for both recycling systems showed that the particleboard from wood wastes produces −428 kg CO2-eq compared to particleboard from fresh woods, and the energy production using wood wastes is −154 kg CO2-eq compared to that of the combined heat and power generation process. The concept of temporary biomass carbon storage was applied to the study.