Scoured wool, 28µm, combed and baled {AU}| wool scouring | AusLCI, U
Unit process Australia v00.00.001
This dataset represents the production of 1kg scoured wool. Australian wool is typically scoured in China, so this dataset starts with the transport of greasy wool from Australian port to China, and ends at the wool scourer gate. The included activities are: transport of Australian greasy wool to Chinese wool scourer (shipping and road transport), scouring, combing and baling. Documentation for this dataset can be found in the 'LCAgMetrics Methodology for developing Life Cycle Inventory' report, available at https://agrifutures.com.au/ It was developed as part of the LCAgMetrics project, a partnership between Agrifutures Australia and Lifecycles, funded by the Australian Government's Sustainability Reporting Uplift Grant as part of the National Agriculture Traceability Grants Program. Production volume: 13639275 kg/yr Energy value wool: 23.47 MJ/kg HHV Energy value grease: 40.75 MJ/kg HHV LHV energy contents used for energy allocation Geography: Australia Technology level: Represents current practices Time period: 2016-2017 Record: Anna Boyden; Tel +61(0)394171190; email: office@lifecycles.com.au; company: Life Cycle Strategies; Country: AU Generator: Anna Boyden; Tel +61(0)394171190; email: office@lifecycles.com.au; company: Life Cycle Strategies; Country: AU
- Sector
- Other Materials
- Contributor
- —
- Last updated
- 12 Oct 2026
- Reference ID
9aa243ef-1923-3c4b-b33d-3eba2208cc6c
Download this dataset Ask a question about this dataset
Downloads require a free account. You'll be asked to register or sign in.
Documentation
- Quantitative reference
- Scoured wool, 28µm, combed and baled {AU}| wool scouring | AusLCI, U
- Sampling procedure
- Data from (Wiedemann, 2018), representing eight wool scouring plants, predominantly in China and India. Primary data were collected over a 12-month period in 2016 and 2017. Transport has been added separately.
- Creation date
- 16 May 2025
- Is copyright protected
- No
- Is infrastructure process
- No
- Tags
- material
- Sources
-
Australia Wool Grease Prices/2025/Wamucii S.
Environmental impacts associated with a woollen garment/2020/Wiedemann S. G.
Estimated impacts of wool production/2018/Wiedemann S.
Heat of combustion values for sheep protein and fat/1964/O. Paladines
Nanotechnological intervention in the wool composites/2016/T. D. Ngo
Overview of wool scouring/2009/E. Wood
Wool grease: Composition and specification/n.d./LanisLanolin
Wool market reports listing page/2024/AWI
Product outputs
| Flow | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoured wool, 28µm, combed and baled {AU}| wool scouring | AusLCI, U | 1.0 | kg | Unless otherwise stated, all data is from Table 1, Wiedemann (2018) Effect of methodological choice on the estimated impacts of wool production and the significance for LCA-based rating systems Carbon content, fossil: 0.0 kg C/kg dry mass. Carbon content, non-fossil: 0.5 kg C/kg dry mass. Dry mass: 0.84 kg/kg wet mass. Wet mass: 1 kg/kg wet mass. |
| Wool grease, from 28µm wool , biogenic C not balanced {AU}| wool scouring | AusLCI, U | 0.077 | kg | Carbon content, fossil: 0.0 kg C/kg dry mass. Carbon content, non-fossil: 0.8 kg C/kg dry mass. Dry mass: 0.95 kg/kg wet mass. Wet mass: 1 kg/kg wet mass. |
Technical inputs
| Flow | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium sulfate, powder {GLO}| market for | Cut-off, U | 0.39 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) To represent 'flocculant' in inventory |
| Carbon correction factor {AU}| | AusLCI, U | -0.20255264089401903 | kg | Allocation correction for wool - which is the only product for which biogenic carbon has been rebalanced in this inventory. For the other coproducts a subsequent balancing process is used. |
| Chemical, inorganic {GLO}| market for chemical, inorganic | Cut-off, U | 3.74 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Diesel, burned in building machine {GLO}| market for diesel, burned in building machine | Cut-off, U | 0.00945 | MJ | (2,3,3,3,1,na) 0.00021 kg * 45 MJ/kg |
| Electricity, low voltage {CN}| market group for electricity, low voltage | Cut-off, U | 0.209 | kWh | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Extrusion, plastic film {RoW}| extrusion, plastic film | Cut-off, U | 0.63 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Heat, district or industrial, natural gas {GLO}| market group for heat, district or industrial, natural gas | Cut-off, U | 6.266 | MJ | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Heat, from steam, in chemical industry {RoW}| market for heat, from steam, in chemical industry | Cut-off, U | 0.013 | MJ | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Metal working, average for steel product manufacturing {GLO}| market for metal working, average for steel product manufacturing | Cut-off, U | 0.68 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Non-ionic surfactant {GLO}| market for non-ionic surfactant | Cut-off, U | 1.3 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) To represent 'surfactant' in inventory. Wood "Aqueous scouring and detergents" pg. 9 specifies ethylene oxide derived but using market because fatty acid derived also used |
| Nylon 6-6 {RoW}| market for nylon 6-6 | Cut-off, U | 0.63 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Packaging film, low density polyethylene {RoW}| packaging film production, low density polyethylene | Cut-off, U | 1.98 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Propane, burned in building machine {GLO}| market for propane, burned in building machine | Cut-off, U | 0.025 | MJ | (2,3,3,3,1,na) 0.00051 kg * 49 MJ/kg. Represents LPG |
| Soap {GLO}| market for soap | Cut-off, U | 4.25 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) To represent 'detergent' in inventory. |
| Sodium bicarbonate {RoW}| market for sodium bicarbonate | Cut-off, U | 5.09 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Sodium chloride, powder {GLO}| market for sodium chloride, powder | Cut-off, U | 3.84 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Steel, low-alloyed {GLO}| market for steel, low-alloyed | Cut-off, U | 0.68 | g | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Tap water {RoW}| market for tap water | Cut-off, U | 17.843 | kg | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| Transport, freight, lorry, 16-32 metric ton, diesel, EURO 5 {RoW}| market for transport, freight, lorry, 16-32 metric ton, diesel, EURO 5 | Cut-off, U | 294.3598314606742 | kg*km | (2,3,3,3,1,na) Baled greasy wool China port to scourer |
| Transport, freight, sea, transoceanic ship {GLO}| market for transport, freight, sea, transoceanic ship | Cut-off, U | 12040.718820224718 | kg*km | (2,3,3,3,1,na) Baled greasy wool Australian port to China port |
| Wool, 28µm, greasy {AU}| market for wool, 28µm, greasy | AusLCI, U | 1.39 | kg | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
Outputs to treatment
| Flow | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waste treatment, garden and green, at landfill {AU}| | AusLCI, U | 0.314 | kg | (2,3,3,3,1,na) Assumed municipal waste fraction is organic (e.g. vegetable matter, suint, wool etc.). Landfill destination is conservative assumption. Other pathways could include composting, incineration, land application etc. Includes 'wool, for recovery' (0.004kg) and 'solid waste treatment (municipal)'(0.31kg). AusLCI used as no garden waste available in Ecoinvent |
| Wastewater, average {RoW}| market for wastewater, average | Cut-off, U | 15.444 | l | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
Elementary flow outputs
| Flow | Compartment | Sub-compartment | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water/m3 | Emissions to air | — | 2.399 | l | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
Parameters
| Name | Value | Formula | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| total_value | 6.5932 | (yield_wool*price_wool)+(yield_grease*price_grease) | [$AUD] |
| greasyWool_input | 1.39 | — | (2,3,3,3,1,na) [kg] |
| packaging_mass | 0.008426966292134831 | 1.5/178 | [kg Nylon per kg wool] 1.5kg Nylon packs for 178kg wool (Wiedemann, 2020) |
| DM_wool | 0.84 | — | (2,3,1,1,1,na) |
| alloc_grease | 13.547291148455983 | iff(alloc_switch=0;alloc_eco_grease;iff(alloc_switch=1;alloc_mass_grease;alloc_energy_grease)) | — |
| CC_greasywool | 0.5 | — | (2,3,1,1,1,na) |
| alloc_mass_wool | 92.85051067780873 | 100*yield_wool/total_mass | [%] |
| FR_wool | 0.7194244604316548 | yield_wool/greasyWool_input | fraction of greasy wool input that is clean wool |
| alloc_energy_grease | 11.88175099488346 | 100*(yield_grease*energy_grease)/total_energy | [%] |
| yield_grease | 0.077 | — | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| total_energy | 24.625999999999998 | (yield_wool*energy_wool)+(yield_grease*energy_grease) | [MJ] |
| alloc_wool | 86.45270885154402 | iff(alloc_switch=0;alloc_eco_wool;iff(alloc_switch=1;alloc_mass_wool;alloc_energy_wool)) | — |
| yield_wool | 1.0 | — | (2,3,3,3,1,na) |
| alloc_eco_wool | 86.45270885154402 | 100*(yield_wool*price_wool)/total_value | [%] |
| BioC_alloc_wool | 0.504710914275314 | greasyWool_input*DM_wool*CC_wool*alloc_wool/100 | Biogenic carbon allocated to woolcuts in kg C. |
| CC_wool | 0.5 | — | (2,3,1,1,1,na) |
| dist_AUtoCN | 8590.0 | — | (na,1,1,1,na,na)[km] Source: Sea-distances.org (2025) Distance from Botany Bay to Port of Shanghai (4368 nautical miles = 8590 km) accessed 8/7/25. Port of Shanghai chosen as highest wool scouring regions are close by |
| FR_grease | 0.055395683453237414 | yield_grease/greasyWool_input | fraction of greasy wool input that is grease |
| alloc_eco_grease | 13.547291148455983 | 100*(yield_grease*price_grease)/total_value | [%] |
| energy_grease | 38.0 | — | (2,na,na,na,1,na)[MJ/kg] LHV. Value obtained from (Paladines, 1964) as HHV, and converted to LHV based on moisture content of 5% (LanisLanolin, n.d.) and hydrogen content of 13% (stoichiometrical calculation assuming chemical formula of C34H68O2) |
| price_wool | 5.7 | — | (1,1,1,1,1,na)[$AUD/kg] Source: (AWI, 2024) |
| price_grease | 11.6 | — | (1,1,1,1,1,na)[$AUD/kg] Source: (Selina Wamucii, 2025). Average of range given for wholesale price in USD and converted to AUD. |
| CC_grease | 0.8 | — | (2,3,1,1,1,na) |
| BioC_balance | 0.3159910071942445 | BioC_inputs-BioC_outputs | Current balance between biogenic carbon inputs less biogenic carbon outputs in kg C. |
| BioC_all_corr_wool | -0.20255264089401903 | BioC_Actual_Wool-BioC_alloc_wool | This is the correction to the biogenic carbon required to balance the biogenic carbon for wool in kg C. |
| DM_greasywool | 0.95 | — | (2,3,1,1,1,na) |
| alloc_energy_wool | 88.11824900511655 | 100*(yield_wool*energy_wool)/total_energy | [%] |
| DM_grease | 0.95 | — | (2,3,1,1,1,na) |
| alloc_mass_grease | 7.149489322191273 | 100*yield_grease/total_mass | [%] |
| BioC_Actual_wool | 0.302158273381295 | FR_Wool*CC_wool*DM_wool | The actual amount of biogenic carbon which should be allocated to wool in kg C. |
| dist_CNPortToScourer | 210.0 | — | (na,1,1,1,na,na)[km] Average of distance from Port of Shanghai to two scouring hubs in China (Tongxiang and Zhangjiagang) via Google Maps |
| bioC_Outputs | 0.3442589928057554 | (FR_Wool*CC_Wool*DM_Wool+FR_Grease*CC_Grease*DM_Grease) | Total biogenic material exported from the process in kg C |
| alloc_switch | — | — | 0: economic; 1: mass; 2: energy |
| total_mass | 1.077 | yield_wool+yield_grease | [kg] |
| energy_wool | 21.7 | — | (2,na,na,na,1,na)[MJ/kg] LHV. Value obtained from (Paladines, 1964) as HHV, and converted to LHV based on moisture content of 16% (Wood, 2009) and hydrogen content of 7% (Ngo, 2016) |
| BioC_Inputs | 0.6602499999999999 | greasyWool_input*DM_GreasyWool*CC_GreasyWool | kg biogenic carbon imported in with input animals |