Environment
Carbon footprint
Climate change is an important environmental issue that affects the entire globe. With increasing awareness of the impacts to and causes of climate change, demand for lower-impact products and services is expected to increase. A starting point for assessing a product’s impact to climate change is completion of a ‘carbon footprint’. A Scion report for the Carbon Footprint of New Zealand LVL completed an analysis of three New Zealand based LVL producers and the consumption of both untreated and treated LVL products. The GWP (Global Warming Potential) was calculated for the LVL production process, included all stages from forestry until the disposal of the products in a landfill (the disposal method currently used in NZ). Total GWP emissions from the production, transport and disposal of these products (cradle to grave emissions) are 645 and 755 kg CO2-e per m3 for untreated and treated LVL, respectively. Taking into account CO2 uptake from tree growth, net total life cycle GWP emissions are -266 and -157 kg CO2-e per m3 for untreated and treated LVL, respectively.
With over 70% of energy requirements on site for producing heat, Nelson Pine generates almost our own entire heat requirement by recycling wood waste and burning wood residues. This is a form of Biofuel and is considered greenhouse gas neutral under the Kyoto protocol. Since growing trees absorb CO2, NPIL is part of a ‘virtuous cycle’ which includes the consumption of carbon through the growth of raw materials. In addition, carbon is stored in the wood products we produce when they are used in buildings or furniture. By processing wood into profitable end products we encourage the cyclical nature of using wood as a renewable resource, which we believe will incentivise more people to grow more trees. Sustainable forestry is at the core of our operations and hugely significant to the longevity and success of our operations.
The Wood Processors & Manufacturers Association of NZ (WPMA) is an advocacy, lobbying and government representation association for forest based companies. The WPMA 2050 Vision is a solution to what is deemed to be a world inhibited by high rates of urbanisation, climate change, constrained fossil fuels and water supplies. The world may depend much more on wood as a rapidly renewable natural resource to lead the building industry into the future.
