Background:
Production and recycling loops of major paper sectors are multiply connected.
For Life Cycle Assessment the quantification of repeated material use is fundamental.
At every point of the life cycle of a single fibre two figures characterise the level of their utilisation:

Fibre Age:
Number of production cycles a fibre was used to date (Counting starts in the first product with 1)
Number of Future Material Uses:
Number of production cycles a fibre will be used from now until end of their life (Counting starts in the current product with 1)

Objectives of the tool:
Based on a simplified fibre flow chart for 3 major paper sectors (Graphic Papers GP, Packaging Papers PP, Sanitary/Household and Other Paper and Board SH/O) and given volumes for virgin fibre usage, paper for recycling migration and waste generation, the tool calculates for each paper sector
 • the fibre age distribution resp. the number of future material uses distribution of the paper products
 • the Mean Fibre Age (MFA) resp. the Mean Number of Future Material Uses (MNU) of the fibre population

How to use the tool:
1. Choose THE MODEL in the main menu
2. Insert each volume of the mass flows into the 11 fields in the ACTION AREA:
 • Use of virgin fibres for production of GP, PP and SH/O (VIRGIN_IN)
 • Losses and Disposal after production of GP, PP and SH/O (DISPOSAL_OUT)
 • Use of recycled GP resp. PP for the production of GP resp. PP (INTERNAL_CYCLE)
 • Use of recycled GP for the production of PP (TO_PP_OUT)
 • Use of recycled GP and PP for the production of SH/O (TO_SH_OUT)
Alternatively you can use a predefined data set. Select a dataset from the CHOOSE DATA SET box and press LOAD DATA SET button afterwards.
3. Because the mass flow is assumed as a steady state flow, i.e. at every point of the flow chart the sum of inputs equals the sum of outputs, the flow chart is fully defined by only 8 values. You can decide to use an input-driven flow chart (IN_DRIVEN) or an output driven flow chart (OUT_DRIVEN). In the first case the Losses and Disposal values are redundant. In the latter case the use of virgin fibres values are redundant. The corresponding fields are gray dashed. Depending on which type of flow chart you select in the CALCULATION MODE field the grey dashed fields are calculated by the tool automatically. The corrected values are shown in the next row beneath.
4. After pressing the CALCULATE button the distribution of fibre age and number of future materials uses is calculated and shown as a bar chart for every paper sector. Additionally the mean values MFA and MNU for every paper sector are calculated.
5. If you select RESULTS in the main menu bar charts for fibre age and number of future uses are provided containing all 3 paper sectors in one chart.
6. Repeat with step 1 for a new calculation. You can clear all fields with the CLEAR ALL BUTTON or you can simply overwrite the values.