Paper and cardboard — recovery or disposal?

To provide a solid basis for policies and policymaking in the field of waste management, the environmental and economic impacts caused by different waste treatment options should be examined. In recent years, a large number of studies comparing recycling with recovery or final disposal have been published, which are based on life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA). To the frustration of policy-makers, experts and, not least the public at large, the results from these studies often differ greatly, and are even sometimes directly conflicting. Therefore, it would be of value to evaluate the robustness of these studies and their conclusions, and to clarify the reasons why results apparently differ so much. This is the overall purpose of the present project. Studies using LCAs and CBAs for comparison of waste management options for paper and cardboard have been reviewed.