This report contains a life cycle assessment (LCA) carried out to quantitatively evaluate the environmental impacts of Stone Paper. The life cycle assessment takes into account raw materials extraction and processing, manufacturing processes, transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal stages that cover the entire life cycle of the product from cradle to grave. The report that follows is a comparative LCA of three options used for waterproof bottle labels, e.g. wine labels. The three types of label material evaluated are:

1. Oriented polypropylene film (PP film)
2. Coated paper
3. Stone Paper

The purpose of this project is to provide an LCA for stone paper following the ISO 14040/44 (2006) standards to assess cradle to grave environmental impacts and compare to coated wood pulp paper and oriented polypropylene film. This report is intended to communicate information on the environmental performance of stone paper, and how it compares with coated wood pulp paper and oriented polypropylene film.

The functional unit used to compare the three materials across will be 1m2 of material shipped to a distributor in USA for use of labeling on bottles. The life cycle assessment process will ultimately result in a comparative analysis to compare stone paper to coated wood pulp paper and polypropylene film on the same measuring standard.