EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL DE BALDOSAS CERÁMICAS MEDIANTE TÉCNICAS DE ANÁLISIS DEL CICLO DE VIDA. PROPUESTA DE MEJORAS

Abstract

The objective of this work is to carry out a "from cradle-to-gate" environmental evaluation of ceramic tiles, with the aim of identifying the steps/processes/materials mainly contributing to its environmental impact. Production of 1 m2 of ceramic tile has been taken as the functional unit, and an inventory of the life cycle of every unitary material/process involved in its production has been made. In order to generate this inventory, companies located at Castellón, belonging to the ceramic sector, have participated. Those companies cover the whole tile life cycle, from red clay extraction to tile final production. Additionally, impact categories of the CML2001 method have been completed with other impact categories enabling the quantification of the main environmental problems specific of the tile sector. As a result, the tile forming (pressing), pre-heat and firing stages have been identified as those contributing most negatively to the different impact categories considered in the study. For them an improvement proposal has been made, whose viability has been analysed from an environmental, economic and legal perspective. Keywords: life cycle assessment, LCA, ceramic tile, environmental evaluation, environmental improvement