Productization of Industrial Side Streams into By-Products—Case: Fiber Sludge from Pulp and Paper Industry

Abstract

The increasing pressure on natural resources and the climate has been noted by businesses and governments worldwide, who now face the difficult task of integrating paths of environmental sustainability and economic growth. One promising approach to sustainable development, reducing the pressure on natural resources and solving waste problems is circular economy. From different ways of implementing circular economy, this study focuses on the productization of industrial side streams, which carry a great deal of underutilized potential. In this article, the productization of pulp and paper industry side stream, fiber sludge, for commercial use as a dust-binding agent is studied via a descriptive, in-depth case study. Apart from inconsistent quality, fluctuating supply, cost of storage and logistics, what makes industrial side stream utilization challenging is the lack of knowledge that stakeholders have about side streams and their utilization and the lack of new value chain development for their commercial use. Therefore, it is essential for all parties involved to have a clearer vision of what is being sold for what purposes, through productization. This study found that the productization of side streams follows the same steps as the productization of any other traditional product, and the productized side streams can be added to the company’s product portfolio as by-products.

Remanufacturing in the Heavy Vehicle Industry—Case Study of a Finnish Machine Manufacturer

“…However, the company has encountered challenges related to reverse logistics, including freight costs, custom fees, delays and fiscal issues, as recognised also by [8,10,18]. Collecting the cores from customers is also difficult, which is in line with the findings of [1,22]. The deposit system has been seen as a solution to prevent unauthorised remanufacturing and return the cores more efficiently from the customers.…”

“…This should be taken into account in the design phase to consider all life-cycle phases [28]. As many authors have concluded [6,22], excessive generated emissions or excessive amounts of used energy in reverse logistics or other circular economy processes may reduce the environmental benefits of the circular economy systems. However, the value chain of manufacturing itself generates significant emissions and requires the use of energy in various phases; thus, it is easy to see why remanufacturing can be perceived as a green solution despite having various challenges.…”

“…King et al [3] mention reverse logistics as a barrier to remanufacturing because it usually requires returning EoL products from a small number of locations, which may be the highest cost involved in remanufacturing. Leppänen et al [22] have also concluded that narrow material streams in a sparsely populated region may be a combination that makes the system inefficient. Hummels et al [23] support this view, adding that operations in several geographic locations may be unprofitable in case of excessive tariffs and logistics costs.…”

Exploring the benefits of service productisation: support for business processes

“…Service productisation provides a common language for stakeholders (Wirtz, 2021). All involved parties can have a clearer understanding of the offering (Lepp€ anen et al, 2020). The service elements being described, the company internally supports employees and others relating to the services (Danson et al, 2005;Harkonen et al, 2017;Simula et al, 2008).…”

“…The service product portfolio management is improved through service productisation (Saunila et al, 2017). Productisation enables a better position to address the overall offering (Wirtz, 2021;Lepp€ anen et al, 2020). In addition, productisation inducing the human ability to evaluate and relate to ongoing actions, structures and their own roles have been mentioned (Lehtonen et al, 2015).…”