Bamboo pulp as a sustainable alternative in China's pulp industry: Economic and environmental assessment

As China faces a growing crisis in paper raw material supply, there is increasing interest in using bamboo pulp as a sustainable alternative. This study evaluates the environmental and economic performance of bamboo pulp production in China using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and compares the results with those of wood pulp. In terms of environmental impacts, bamboo pulp production in China shows variability in different regions. The environmental burden of bamboo pulp ranges from 23.6 % lower to 62.8 % higher compared to wood pulp, primarily due to differences in the pulping and alkali recovery stages. In terms of economic benefits, bamboo pulp is more economical than wood pulp. The life cycle cost per ton of bamboo pulp is $211.0 less than that of wood pulp, representing a reduction of 19.3 % in cost. Furthermore, several future technological advancement scenarios were designed, showing that increased adoption of advanced pulping technologies could reduce the environmental impact of bamboo pulp by 9.2 %–12.6 %. Under an optimal technology scenario, there is no significant difference in environmental impact between bamboo pulp and wood pulp. These demonstrate the potential of bamboo pulp to be a sustainable solution to China's papermaking raw material crisis, while also contributing to carbon neutrality goals.