{"177921":{"#nid":"177921","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment to Influence Use of Alternative Fibers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EValerie Thomas, Anderson Interface Associate Professor \u003C\/strong\u003Eof Natural Systems in the Stewart School of Industrial \u0026amp; Systems Engineering, and Norman Marsolan, director of Georgia Tech\u2019s Institute of Paper Science and Technology, are developing an assessment for Kimberly-Clark (K-C) on the environmental and broader sustainability issues related to using non-forest alternative fibers. K-C, the world\u2019s largest tissue manufacturer, has partnered with Georgia Tech on this project to more fully understandand responsibly manage the impact of its decisions on fiber.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThomas is working with Wenman Liu, a PhD student in the School of Public Policy, to evaluate a wide range of environmental impacts, including water use, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and ecosystem impacts, as well as broader issues regarding land use and sustainability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to its efforts to reduce its forest fiber footprint, K-C has announced its plan to transition at least 50 percent of wood fiber sourced from natural forests to alternate fiber sources by 2025. This broad, new initiative is expected to help protect biodiversity and reduce the impacts of fiber that the company uses, while ensuring the fiber is sourced in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Equally important, the initiative will also help insulate the company from continuing volatile price fluctuations in the world fiber market.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith a joint appointment in the School of Public Policy, Thomas\u2019 research interests include energy and materials efficiency, sustainability, industrial ecology, technology assessment, international security, and science and technology policy. Thomas is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Physical Society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis article first appeared in the 2012 edition of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/issuu.com\/isyealumnimagazine\/docs\/2012\u0022\u003EISyE Alumni Magazine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EISyE Professor Valerie Thomas and Norman Marsolan, director of Georgia Tech\u2019s Institute of Paper Science and Technology, are developing an assessment for Kimberly-Clark on the environmental and broader sustainability issues related to using non-forest alternative fibers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27511","created_gmt":"2012-12-17 15:05:17","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:22","author":"Ashley Daniel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"53261","name":"Alternative Fibers"},{"id":"2487","name":"American Association for the Advancement of Science"},{"id":"53281","name":"American Physical Society"},{"id":"10936","name":"Biodiversity"},{"id":"843","name":"greenhouse gas emissions"},{"id":"426","name":"isye"},{"id":"5434","name":"Kimberly-Clark"},{"id":"10402","name":"life cycle assessment"},{"id":"167078","name":"School of Public Policy"},{"id":"1135","name":"valerie thomas"},{"id":"53271","name":"Wenman Liu"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:barbara.christopher@isye.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBarbara Christopher\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIndustrial and Systems Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404.385.3102\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}