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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 10, No. 4
Publication Date: August 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/aivp.104.12951. Eshun, J. F., Marfo, E. D., & Quartey, G. A. (2022). Evaluation of the Carbon Footprint of Rubberwood Lumber Production in Ghana.
European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(4). 803-810.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Evaluation of the Carbon Footprint of Rubberwood Lumber
Production in Ghana
John Frank Eshun
Department of Interior Design Technology
Faculty of Faculty of Built & Natural Environment
Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana
Eric Donkor Marfo
Department of Interior Design Technology
Faculty of Faculty of Built & Natural Environment
Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana
Gladys Ama Quartey
Department of Interior Design Technology
Faculty of Faculty of Built & Natural Environment
Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana
ABSTRACT
A key source of wood for Ghana's timber sector is rubberwood. The characteristics
and economic sustainability of rubberwood for the production of wood products
with added value have been the subject of numerous studies. However, rubberwood
and its environmental performance, as well as green labelling, which measures
carbon footprint, are not well documented in Ghana. This study assessed the carbon
footprint of timber production from rubberwood using the life-cycle approach. The
cradle-to-gate method was applied where the study's key findings show that
Ghana's production of rubberwood lumber has a carbon footprint of 158
kg/m3CO2-eq. This resulted from the adoption of processing technologies that
were inefficient and produced significant waste and emissions both at the
harvesting and in the milling stages. As a result, this study demonstrated that
rubberwood timber has a significant carbon footprint, and efforts must be made to
advance technology and reduce waste and emissions by considering rubberwood as
a green material.
Keywords: Carbon footprint; Ghana’s timber industry; Life Cycle assessment; Lumber;
Rubberwood.
INTRODUCTION
Ghana’s timber sector plays an important role in its socio-economic development through
timber product exports. Currently, the timber sector is facing declining timber product exports
and the extinction of most natural traditional timber species [1]. The timber sector's
dependence on natural traditional timber species is a critical constraint that has led to the over- harvesting of more natural timber species [2]. With the dwindling natural timber products, it
has become necessary that the timber sector utilise plantation species. As the primary raw
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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 4, August-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
material base can no longer adequately supply the industry, the adoption of plantation-grown
species might be helpful [3].
The rubber tree (Hevea brasilvensis) is indigenous to Ghana’s forests and is commercially
exploited for the production of latex. Elsewhere, rubberwood has been exploited as raw
material for furniture. Based on the consolidated experience in Asian countries, rubberwood
has other uses, including furniture production [4]. In Ghana, after the cycle of latex extraction,
rubber plantations are reformulated and the wood from these plants is traditionally used as a
cheap source of energy. In addition, the yellowish aesthetic colour of rubberwood has an
excellent working properties, and comparable mechanical properties to other established for
furniture wood materials [4]. Apart from these uses, the green label and its environmental
performance are not known. Other scholarly studies bring to forth that the consumption of
resources, namely material, energy, and water during the conversion of saw logs into sawn
timber [4], has an environmental impact [5, 6].
In order to endorse rubberwood lumber production in Ghana, there is a need to determine its
carbon footprint. In recent times, the concern about environmental impacts has gone beyond
relying on existing national regulation because international markets are increasingly
demanding environmentally sound products [7]. Most international timber certification
schemes provide options for consumers to choose wood products that have been sourced from
forests or plantations deemed to be managed sustainably [8]. Therefore, life-cycle thinking has
become a key focus in environmental integrated product policy and the effective integration of
this concept in the timber sector is considered a critical success factor for a more sustainable
industry. In view of this, the study sought to assess the carbon footprint of rubberwood lumber
production as a means to determine the feasibility of introducing rubberwood as a raw material
to supplement the dwindling stock of natural traditional timber species for the Ghanaian timber
sector. In an attempt, the study evaluates the inputs and outputs of rubberwood lumber
production from plantation to the manufacturing process in Ghana, evaluate all potential
impacts on the environment, and assess the carbon footprint of rubberwood lumber production
in Ghana. The study intends to be the basis for the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of
rubberwood lumber produced in Ghana. The EPD will provide relevant, verified and
comparable information about the potential environmental impact of rubberwood lumber
produced in Ghana.
METHODS
Carbon footprint assessment
The assessment focused on the carbon footprint of rubberwood lumber production in Ghana.
The study employed the life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach as an analytical technique to
assess carbon footprint of rubberwood, its standard, guidelines and performances in
compliance with the [9]. A Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used as a tool to assess the
environmental performance of and identify the environmental hotspots in a product chain. This
method was used as an analytical technique to analyse sustainability benefits and trade off
resulting from complex systems [10]. LCA was normally conducted for a product system from
"Cradle-to-Gate" accounting for all the environmental impacts from resource extraction to the
end of product disposal based on a series of LCA standards created by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO), namely, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 [11, 12]. The result
may then be used for identifying opportunities to improve the environmental aspects of a
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Eshun, J. F., Marfo, E. D., & Quartey, G. A. (2022). Evaluation of the Carbon Footprint of Rubberwood Lumber Production in Ghana. European Journal
of Applied Sciences, 10(4). 803-810.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.104.12951
product at the various stages of its life-cycle; decision making in industry and organisation in
the selection of products for application and marketing.
System Boundary of the Rubber Wood Lumber Production System in Ghana
The rubberwood lumber production process's resource flow output production and
environmental emissions are all represented by the system boundary. The study, therefore,
evaluate the carbon footprint based on the cradle-to-gate life-cycle stage, namely from the
harvesting of rubber trees on plantations and their transportation to the sawmill for
rubberwood timber production in Figure 1. The work included harvesting plantations and
moving rubber logs from the plantations to the processing site. Rubber logs were moved from
the rubber plantations to the processing site using heavy trucks. of diesel powered vehicles.
Depending on how ready they were to be sawed the rubber logs were housed in the log ward.
The rubber logs were then transported from the logging yard to the band saw using a front end
stacker. The rubber logs were sawed into fresh sawn timber. The specifications of the timber
made of sawn rubberwood are determined by customer demand. The fresh cut rubberwood
timber was carried to the kiln drier and then to the storage room where it was piled and
organised according to different sizes before being packaged for shipping.
Figure 1: Cradle-to-Gate System Boundary of the Life Cycle Assessment Study – inclusions and
exclusions of the Rubber Wood Lumber Production System in Ghana