4 WHAT IS A CARBON FOOTPRINT? Carbon footprint is used to describe the climate impact of a product over its entire life cycle. A calculation is made based on the type of material of the product, the energy used in manufacturing, transport, use phase and end-of-life handling. The carbon footprint should be used with care since it is a simplified study of a complex reality. It does not describe the problem of plastics in the sea or use of chemicals and is dependent on facts like type of energy used and waste handling infrastructure. A plant-based product may theoretically reach a zero carbon footprint when only renewable energy is used in the chain. A fossil-based plastic does not have this potential. PRODUCTS For packaging material the carbon footprint of the product is consistently lower than for the goods they protect. For plastic products, the transport is typically less than 10-15 % of the overall footprint, also when shipped from China to Europe. Calculations show that for Duni products for the same use, bagasse and paper products have the lowest carbon footprint. RESEARCH BASED There are numerous studies that calculate the carbon footprint according to the ISO standard ISO 14044. There are databases to give the average findings of these studies. The numbers shown are calculated by an environmental consultant, Southpole. Carbon dioxide emissions from a Duni product life cycle are typically divided into: Raw materials manufacturing Manufacturing of finished product Transport of finished product Product end-of-life Recyclability of Duni materials: PLA Bagasse PS Low Recyclability Coated Paper & Cardboard PE, PP, PET High Recyclability Uncoated Paper, Cardboard, Grass Paper
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