Circular wood use can accelerate global decarbonisation but requires cross-sectoral coordination

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Forestry
• Climate Change Mitigation

Background:

• Current linear wood utilization limits forestry's climate mitigation potential.
• Sustainable forestry practices are crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Circular economy principles offer a pathway to enhance climate benefits from wood resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the climate change mitigation benefits of cascading and circular wood use.
• To compare the effectiveness of circular wood use against traditional linear models.
• To identify barriers and enablers for transforming forestry value-chains towards circularity.

Main Methods:

• Lifecycle assessment (LCA) was employed to evaluate climate mitigation impacts.
• Analysis focused on wood use in forestry value-chains, including recycling.
• A case study from the United Kingdom examined medium-density fibreboard recycling.

Main Results:

• Cascading and circular wood use provide immediate and sustained climate mitigation.
• Recycling medium-density fibreboard in the UK showed 75% greater mitigation by 2050 compared to business-as-usual.
• Combined circular/cascading use and afforestation could mitigate 258.8 million tonnes CO2e by 2050.

Conclusions:

• Circular and cascading wood use significantly enhances climate mitigation, complementing afforestation efforts.
• Systemic barriers hinder the adoption of circular economy principles in forestry.
• Enablers are needed to transform the forestry value-chain for effective climate action.