Recycled cross-laminated timber as a low environmental impact alternative to virgin material: Latvia case study

Abstract

Building with wood has become more popular and so has the circularity concept and carbon storage in products. This study aims to analyse the life cycle impacts of cross-laminated timber (CLT) recycling. Functional unit of 1 m³ was chosen for the CLT and recycled cross-laminated timber (ReCLT) comparison. For the life cycle assessment, the ReCiPe methodology was used allowing to calculate midpoint and endpoint accumulated impacts of both ReCLT and CLT, therefore allowing for the best comparison. Overall, the ReCLT showed significantly reduced environmental impacts in endpoint categories from 50 % to 80 % reduction in the single score evaluation. Although midpoint impacts showed mostly reduced environmental impacts, e.g., global warming, land use and others, the water eutrophication – both marine and freshwater, leading to think for improvements in the recycling process.