Case Study: BSW Timber Solutions, Life Cycle Assessment
Background
BSW Timber Solutions Ltd specialises in manufacturing and supplying high-quality certified timber products for home improvement and builders’ merchants. The company is part of the BSW Group, the UK’s largest integrated forestry business.
Sustainability is central to the company’s operations, with a strong focus on responsible sourcing, waste reduction, and innovative practices that drive progress toward a Net Zero future. They recognise their responsibility to drive positive change and protect the environment and are passionate about sourcing timber from healthy, sustainable forests.
BSW Timber Solutions has been working with Beyondly since 2013, forming a longstanding and trusted partnership built on shared values around environmental responsibility. What began as a focus on packaging compliance has developed into a broader collaboration, with Beyondly supporting BSW Timber Solutions’ evolving sustainability ambitions. Over the years, Beyondly has become a key partner in the company’s efforts to enhance environmental performance, providing insight, guidance, and continuity as they continue to lead by example within their industry.
The opportunity
BSW Timber Solutions approached Beyondly to gain a clearer understanding of the environmental impact – specifically the carbon footprint – of one of their most popular products: studwork Canadian Lumber Standard (CLS) softwood timber. They sought expert insight and robust data to assess the product’s environmental performance across its cradle-to-gate life cycle, which would support a more targeted approach to reducing its environmental impact. The results would also enable BSW Timber Solutions to communicate the product’s performance to key stakeholders and contribute to broader Scope 3 emissions calculations.
BSW Timber Solutions recognises the crucial role timber plays in combating climate change through carbon capture. The collaboration project with Beyondly would provide detailed insight into the carbon footprint of the CLS product to not only support product and process improvements but enhance BSW’s broader understanding of the life cycle impacts of wood products.
The solution
This would be the first Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by BSW Timber Solutions, with most cradle-to-gate elements of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) being collated for the first time.
Using LCA aligned with internationally recognised ISO 14040/14044 – Beyondly mapped and compiled data for the CLS product's cradle-to-gate life cycle. The data was collected from across BSW’s forestry, sawmill, and transport supply chains, engaging suppliers and stakeholders to gather accurate, product-specific information and primary data. Beyondly worked directly with BSW’s supply chain to overcome data challenges, leveraging secondary data from Ecoinvent where primary data was not available. This data was then compiled and analysed, with comparisons made against industry averages and other relevant studies.
Using the industry-leading software LCA for Experts, a detailed life cycle model was built incorporating collated data across the supply chain. The results from the LCA were then analysed to identify environmental hotspots, key impact areas, and influential processes and materials. Beyondly presented the findings to BSW Timber Solutions, providing recommendations and opportunities for improvement.
Beyondly also worked with BSW Timber Solutions to present the findings to one of their major customers, supporting Scope 3 emissions calculations and demonstrating the CLS product’s environmental performance. The environmental performance of the product was measured using the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method, with a focus on climate change impact.
The results
The analysis identified the most impactful areas of the CLS product across its cradle-to-gate life cycle and highlighted key opportunities to reduce the product’s carbon footprint. BSW Timber Solutions are now working with their supply chain to implement practical actions towards improved environmental performance of this product and beyond.
"Beyondly’s presentation of the comprehensive LCA findings was excellent – precisely what we were looking for. We had nothing but praise for the report, its level of detail, and the impressive depth of knowledge and expertise shown. As always, Beyondly went above and beyond our expectations. We wouldn’t be surprised if more projects are heading Beyondly's way very soon!"