Environmental impact

Transparency and traceability are our core values

Renewable and recyclable

At Woodly, we are building a future for plastics that is both renewable and recyclable:

Woodly® is a carbon neutral material

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Woodly® material grades was done by Pöyry (current name AFRY). The LCA study follows the regulations and guidelines of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards for Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). Our rationale for this study is to provide a reasoned, defensible, and fact-based assessment of the environmental impact of Woodly® materials.

Impact category	Current situation	Unit
Cradle-to-gate
Global warming potential (including CO2 uptake)	-0,084	kg of CO2 eqv
Ozone depletion potential	2,0E-08	kg R11 eqv.
Photochemical ozone creation potential	3,41	g ethene eqv.
Eutrophication potential	2,09	g phosphate eqv.
Acidification potential	9,04	g SO2 eqv.
Marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential	688	kg DCB eqv.
Human toxicity potentia	0,74	kg DCB eqv.
Abiotic depletion, fossil	53,5	MJ
Particulate matter formation	4,9	g PM10 eqv.

The LCA study demonstrates Woodly® materials having a negative Global Warming Potential (GWP). GWP, more commonly known as the carbon footprint, indicates that Woodly material grades are carbon neutral. Note: This does not automatically mean that the products subsequently manufactured from Woodly® are carbon neutral. The manufacturing processes used for making the finished product may have included production steps that increase the carbon footprint.

What does carbon neutral plastic mean?

As trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When trees are made into Woodly®, the carbon dioxide is not released back into the atmosphere but retained in the Woodly® product. At the end of the production process, there is more carbon dioxide retained in Woodly® than is released during its production. Conversely, in traditional plastic production, about 1.8-3.8 kg of carbon dioxide emission is generated for each kilogram of plastic produced.

The bio-based carbon content of Woodly® material is currently between 40% and 60%.

The bio-based carbon content of Woodly has been verified by radiocarbon analysis. This analysis has been conducted by Tüv Austria, an independent certifying body, giving Woodly two stars certificate for the bio-based carbon content. This means, that the bio-based carbon content of all Woodly® material grades is currently between 40% and 60%.We have plans to increase the bio-based content of Woodly® material grades in the future, as the bio-based components become gradually available in industrial scale.

The main raw material of Woodly® is from certified forests

The main raw material used in Woodly’s plastic, ie softwood pulp, comes from certified forests. The use of cellulose made from certified wood ensures that the pulp producer has taken care of the forest’s biodiversity.

Woodly is recyclable

Woodly can be recycled both mechanically and chemically. During mechanical recycling, the plastic is shredded, washed, melted, and granulated. The granules resulting from this process are used as a raw material for new plastic products. We have demonstrated the recyclability of Woodly waste films with Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), a leading technology and equipment provider for the plastics recycling industry. You can watch video of the test below.

Woodly end-life-options

At Woodly, we always consider the optimal end-of-life options for products and applications where Woodly can be used. The highest priority is on reuse applications, but where this cannot be applied, Woodly performs well in mechanical and physical recycling. It is easily detectable with near-infra red and the best results are obtained recycling Woodly as its own stream.

In chemical recycling, there are multiple ways that can be used to recycle Woodly, including for example gasification. If, for some reason, Woodly ends up in incineration, the emissions are 70% lower compared with conventional plastics. Often the main obstacle for optimal recycling of different plastic materials is volume. In many areas, only some polyethylene, polypropylene and PET grades are recycled, the rest ending up into incineration or waste-to-energy.

We emphasize the importance of developing circular economy and recycling of plastics by offering to take-back, or even buy back all the collected and separated Woodly from post-consumer and post-industrial applications.

What does recyclable plastic mean?

Consumers and brand-owners are demanding recyclable plastics and packaging. Recyclable is a word which can have different meanings for different audiences. In principle all plastics are recyclable. When the packaging or product is made from a single type of plastic, a plastic monomaterial, it is easy to recycle mechanically. If plastics are mixed, layered, modified, or blended, they can be recycled via chemical recycling processes.

Recycling requires efficient waste collection infrastructure, logistics, sorting and the actual recycling process. Also, the user for the recycled plastic is needed. Besides plastics, this applies for all other materials as well, such as paper, cardboard, metal, and glass.

The recycling capacity is developing fast. Technologies for waste collection and sorting, such as deposit schemes and digital markers are being used more frequently. The plastics recycling processes are constantly improving to meet the requirements of the market.

Scalability

Scaling up is the key when realizing the environmental and social benefits of new material innovations. Even the most significant innovations become futile if they cannot enter the market in large enough volume. However, scaling up becomes very expensive and time consuming if new infrastructure is required. The construction of large infrastructures is also burdening the environment.

Woodly is easy to process on the conventional plastics production lines. No new infrastructure is needed to achieve significant market volumes. With our partners in the plastics industry, we are utilizing the existing infrastructure to produce Woodly products.

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