Carbon footprint management and net-zero strategies for bleached kraft bamboo pulps under forestry-pulp-paper...

The global imperative to achieve carbon neutrality is forcing a transformative shift across all sectors, with the pulp and paper industry being a prime example. This shift is being operationalized through national policies aimed at deep decarbonization, which have made the sustainable transformation of this traditional manufacturing sector a key strategic focus worldwide. This study performs life cycle environmental impact assessments on four products, i.e., bleached kraft bamboo pulp, cultural paper, food wrapping paper, and specialty paper, which are from a representative Sichuan-based pulp and paper company in China, with a "cradle-to-gate" boundary (from bamboo sourcing to pulp/paper production completion, exclusion of bamboo cultivation and end-of-life phases). Using the eFootprint software, seven impact categories were evaluated: global warming potential (GWP), abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), respirable inorganic matter (RI), ozone layer depletion potential (ODP), and photochemical ozone formation potential (POFP). For 1 t bleached kraft bamboo pulp, the pulping and alkali recovery processes dominate due to energy (electricity, steam) and chemical consumption, excluding offsets from electricity and steam generation, greenhouse gas emissions from the alkali recovery workshop account for approximately 59.60%, and those from the pulping workshop account for approximately 35.79%; for 1 t cultural/food wrapping/specialty papers, the pressing and drying stages are primary contributors, similarly driven by energy use. Normalization analysis highlights energy consumption as the pivotal driver of greenhouse gas emissions, while chemical use mainly affects AP and EP, and transportation impacts are linked to POFP (vehicle exhaust). Based on these findings, key mitigation strategies are proposed: (1) improving energy efficiency through black liquor dry solids optimization, recovery boiler upgrades, and heat recovery; (2) reducing chemical-related emissions via alkali charge optimization; and (3) driving sectoral transition through institutional innovation in carbon market mechanisms and green standards.