Life cycle assessment of a ceramic tiles manufacturing: strategies for circular economy

In 2015, the Italian ceramic tile industry ranked in fourth place among the world's leading tile manufacturers, with 394,8 million sqm beyond 1735 million sqm of the global production. Although the manufacturing process is rather standardised in its macro-phases, the current attention to the environmental protection and human health requires the need for continuous research and innovation, in order to provide added value in terms of both product quality and process quality. In this framework, the present study, carried out under the European project LIFE16 ENV/IT/000307 - Force of the Future, aims to reduce the environmental impact of the production cycle by implementing the circular economy approach through the reuse of fired scraps and the increased use of local raw materials that affects the relative supply chain. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis was carried out with a “cradle to the grave” approach, in order to evaluate the environmental impacts related to the total annual production of a leading company in the ceramic sector. The functional unit was represented by the annual production of the ceramic tiles. The LCA study was performed using the SimaPro 8.3 software and the IMPACT2002+ assessment method. Primary data were collected directly from the company while the background processes were modelled using Ecoinvent v3 database and literature. The environmental impact of the supply of 1 kg of ceramic mixture was evaluated, considering the traditional ceramic production of the 2015 and the improved scenario related to the 2016. LCA results indicate that the modified scenario, in which there is the 50% of local raw materials, the 30% of raw materials carried by train, and the 3% of fired scraps reused, produces a reduction of the environmental impact in all the impact categories. In addition, for the purpose of investigate all the dimensions of the sustainability, also the economic aspects and social issues will be evaluated, respectively through the LCC and the S-LCA analysis, by identifying and mapping the stakeholders.