Cradle-to-gate study of red clay for use in the ceramic industry |
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Authors: | María-Dolores Bovea Úrsula Saura Jose Luis Ferrero Josep Giner |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Mechanical Engineering and Construction, Universitat Jaume I, Av. Sos Baynat s/n, 12071 Castellón, Spain;(2) WBB-Spain, C/ Ruiz Zorrilla 1, 6, 12001 Castellón, Spain;(3) ReMa-Medio Ambiente, S.L., C/ Crevillente, 1, entlo, 12005 Castellón, Spain |
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Abstract: | Background, Goal and Scope The ceramic tile industry is one of the most important industries in Spain, with the highest concentration of firms to be
found in the province of Castellón on the Mediterranean coast. The basic input material for this industry is red clay. The
aim of this study was to carry out an LCA of the process of mining, treating and marketing this clay in order to identify
the stages and unit processes that have the greatest impact on the environment.
This LCA examines all the stages of the red clay from cradle to the customer’s gate, including the process of mining and treating
the clay in the mining facilities and its later distribution to end users.
Methods Life cycle inventory (LCI): An exhaustive LCI was performed by collecting data from the mine run by Watts Blake Bearne Spain,
S.A. (WBB-Spain) in Castellón. Inputs and outputs were collected for all the unit processes involved in the mining, treatment
and marketing of the clay:
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Mining the clay, which embraces the unit processes of removing the layer of vegetation covering the chosen area, preparing
the area to allow access for the firm’s vehicles, and boring or blasting the place the clay is to be extracted from.
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Treating the clay that is mined to make the finished product, which entails all unit processes required to separate out the
waste material and transport it to the tip (which will later be reconditioned), excavating and transporting the clay to the
crushing plant and later storing it in heaps before delivery to customers. All the internal transport that takes place between
each unit process has also considered.
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Distribution of the final product, where the clay is loaded onto dumper trucks and delivered to the customer.
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Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA): According to ISO 1404X standards, the LCIA is performed at two levels. Firstly, the emissions
accounted for in the inventory stage are sorted into impact categories to obtain an indicator for each category (mandatory
elements). Secondly, the weighting of environmental data to a single unit is applied (optional elements). In compliance with
ISO 14042, a sensitivity analysis is performed and three different impact assessment methods (Eco-Indicator’95, Eco-Indicator’99
and EPS’2000) are applied in order to analyse their influence on the results.
Results The processes that involve the movement of clay within the mine (excavation and loading and transport to the crushing facilities
and heaps) are the ones that make the greatest contribution to impact categories for pollutant emissions. As weighting methods
in LCA remain a controversial issue, a recommendation when robust results are required, can be to use several methods to examine
the sensitivity of the results to different values and worldviews. In our application case, in spite of the differences between
the three impact assessment methods applied (Eco-Indicator’95, Eco-Indicator’99 and EPS’2000), the same conclusions can be
established from the environmental point of view and we can conclude that the ultimate results are not sensitive in the transformation
of mid-points to end-points.
Discussion Taking into account the characteristics of the product being analysed, in addition to the impact categories for pollutant
emissions that are traditionally considered in LCA studies, environmental parameters related to resource use (fuel, electricity
and water consumption), waste generation (dangerous and non-dangerous wastes) and land use (natural resource appreciation
and land use efficiency) and its later rehabilitation (degree of rehabilitation) have been defined. These parameters can be
used as additional criteria for an environmental product declaration or criteria for a future eco-labelling of red clay.
Conclusion The results of this study made it possible to identify the unit processes that make the greatest contribution to environmental
impact that being, specifically, excavation and loading and transport to the crushing facilities and heaps. Such processes
are directly related to the fuel consumption, category that faithfully reproduces the environmental profile of most of the
impact categories related to pollution emissions. Special interest has the consideration of additional parameters to quantify
the land use and its later rehabilitation.
Recommendations The ceramic tile industry has a basis to market and promote tile products with improved environmental impacts. Given that
transport and extraction are dominant underlying issues, it is quite likely that such environmental improvements are also
win-win in the economic sense. The availability of exhaustive life cycle inventories is the key to allow this industry to,
rapidly, incorporate LCA during product development. Complimentary life cycle costings would also be relatively minimal in
terms of effort.
Perspectives Although this study performs the LCI for the basic raw material (clay), future studies should be conducted to complete an
LCI for the remaining elements employed by the ceramic tile industry, with the aim of developing a characteristic LCI database
for this industry. This includes data on raw materials (feldspar, silicious and feldspars sand, boron, glaze, frit, etc.)
and processes (enamelling, firing, water waste treatment, etc.). |
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Keywords: | Ceramics industry impact assessment LCI mining red clay sensitivity analysis |
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