State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Oct 1;319:115625. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115625. Epub 2022 Jul 4.
College students in China are among the main consumers of online shopping and the corrugated cartons used to ship items are piling up on campus. However, the generation characteristics of waste corrugated cartons (WCCs) in universities and the environmental consequences along their recycling pathway remain to be addressed. Taking Nanjing University (NJU) as an example, this study conducted a questionnaire survey on campus to analyze the generation characteristics of WCCs and evaluated the life cycle environmental impacts of their recycling process using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The results showed that WCC generation on campus varied by educational level, sex, grade and major, with doctoral students and female students being more active in online shopping and thus generating more WCCs. It was further estimated that a total of 0.27 Mt of WCCs were generated by college students in China in 2020, of which recycling would result in 0.31 Mt of CO eq of GHG emissions. Pulping and papermaking processes are the main contributors to the life cycle environmental impacts of WCC recycling, together accounting for at least 77% of the total. This study suggests the need for joint efforts from universities, students, and recycling enterprises to reduce WCC generation in Chinese universities and to make its recycling chain more environmentally sustainable.
中国大学生是网购的主要消费者之一，用于运输物品的瓦楞纸箱在校园里堆积如山。然而，高校内废弃瓦楞纸箱（WCC）的产生特征及其回收路径的环境后果仍有待解决。本研究以南京大学（NJU）为例，通过校园问卷调查分析了 WCC 的产生特征，并采用生命周期评价（LCA）方法评估了其回收过程的生命周期环境影响。结果表明，校园内 WCC 的产生量因教育水平、性别、年级和专业而异，博士生和女生更热衷于网购，因此产生的 WCC 更多。进一步估计，2020 年中国大学生共产生 0.27 Mt 的 WCC，其中回收将产生 0.31 Mt 的 CO eq 温室气体排放。制浆和造纸过程是 WCC 回收生命周期环境影响的主要贡献者，至少占总影响的 77%。本研究建议高校、学生和回收企业共同努力，减少中国高校内 WCC 的产生，使回收链更加环保可持续。
