Environmental Profiles

One of our 2020 sustainability commitments is to promote markets for sustainable products, with the goal of educating customers about the sustainability aspects of our products. To help achieve this goal, we developed Product Environmental Profiles that summarize the environmental attributes of our products from raw material sourcing to manufactured product (cradle-to-gate). These profiles are intended to inform our customers and answer their questions about key environmental indicators including partial carbon footprint, fiber sourcing, air emissions, water use, water discharges, and residuals management.

We currently have Product Environmental Profiles for some of our most popular products, based on 2011 data. We are also developing additional profiles as needed.

• Cellulose Fibers: Absorbent Pulp
• Cellulose Fibers: Papergrade Pulp
• NORPAC Newsprint, printing and publishing papers
• Liquid Packaging Board
• Trus Joist® TJI® Joist
• Trus Joist® and Weyerhaeuser Strand Products
• Trus Joist® Microllam®LVL and Parallam® PSL
• Softwood Lumber

Our Product Environmental Profile Methodology contains more information about the parameters included in the profiles and how they are calculated.

LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology to quantify the total environmental impacts of a product or service, from raw material extraction through to end-of-life. LCA is a useful tool but measuring all material inputs and environmental impacts from “cradle-to-grave” is complex and not always feasible. Instead, we estimate "cradle-to-gate" environmental impacts and communicate these with consumers through our Product Environmental Profiles as described above.

We use or participate in life-cycle assessments of our products based on business and customer needs. We have participated in industry LCA research, including a study conducted for the Japan Association for Milkcarton Recycling and the Committee on Milkcarton Environmental Issues. In our Wood Products business, we supported a consortium of 15 universities and research institutions in their LCA comparing wood, steel and concrete housing (see Green Building).