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School

Simon Fraser University *

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Course

100

Subject

Aerospace Engineering

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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pdf

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4

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Simon Fraser University REM 100 LCA Assignment Page 2 of 5 Spring 2023 1. Extraction and production of raw materials Description of the materials required for grocery bags and their extraction/production process The raw materials needed to produce a paper bag are mainly wood and water. Wood is put through a pulp mill which debarks the wood. After debarking, the logs are inserted into a chipper which grinds the logs into a power-like consistency (How are Paper Bags Made, 2022). The powdered wood is then cooked at a specific temperature to separate the fibers from the wood. After all the impurities are taken away, the pulp is bleached to get rid of lignin and is ready for the paper mill (How are Paper Bags Made, 2022). Environmental effects (adverse or beneficial) Deforestation is one of the cons of paper bags. According to (Bowen et al., 2022) trees are efficient at absorbing greenhouse gas emissions, therefore, if more trees are cut, it can impact the surrounding environment as there is less waste for trees to absorb. Deforestation also affects the natural habitat of many animals, causing them to go extinct, or move to another habitat which in turn potentially ruins the balance of that habitat. The process of making pulp from wood also produces a substantial amount of greenhouse gases that pollute the air and water, creating a phenomenon known as acid rain (Bowen et al., 2022). Additionally, paper bags are produced using coal or fossil fuels (Muthu et al., 2009) and they consume five times the amount of water and require more transportation compared to plastic bags (Bowen et al., 2022). Social effects (adverse or beneficial) A social effect that can result from deforestation is a loss of functionality, specifically for the ecosystem those trees reside in. Quite often, specific areas are prohibited to the local population and are strictly used for logging which restricts the population ’s resources as well , forcing them to consume products made by the same manufacturing company. This can lead to poverty as these local populations are usually in developing countries which already puts them at a disadvantage economically. Additionally, their local resources are being taken which contributes to their struggle.
Simon Fraser University REM 100 LCA Assignment Page 3 of 5 Spring 2023 2. Production of grocery bag Description of the production process of grocery bags Environmental effects (adverse or beneficial) Social effects (adverse or beneficial)
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