DISEÑO DE UNA HERRAMIENTA DE COMUNICACIÓN AMBIENTAL APLICABLE AL SECTOR CERÁMICO

Abstract

The objective of this communication is to present a tool designed with the aim of facilitating the communication of environmental information in the ceramic industry, both for companies and products (ceramic tiles). The tool is divided in three parts: 1)input data, where the user fulfil the information related to raw material an resources consumption, emissions to air, water and soil and solid waste, etc., 2)database, that includes the environmental indicators for different impact categories for the materials, processes and emissions characteristics of the ceramic industry, and 3)output data obtaining the processed results in form of the environmental product category according to ISO14025, the environmental profile of the company according to EMAS Register, and the verification of the compliance with the criteria of the European Ecolabel for ceramic tile. In the latter case, if the product does not comply the criteria, the tool proposes the best available techniques that could be implemented to achieve compliance, along with the economic and environmental consequences involved in their implementation. Finally, the proposed tool is validated with two application cases. Keywords: environmental communication; environmental product declaration; EMAS register; ecolabel; ceramic industry