INDICADORES DE SOSTENIBILIDAD AMBIENTAL PARA LA INDUSTRIA METALÚRGICA DEL COBRE PRIMARIO EN CHILE. UNA PROPUESTA BASADA EN ESTUDIOS ACV

Abstract

One way to measure the environmental performance of an organization is through the use of indicators for environmental sustainability (IES). The IES provide an important source of information that may help to those responsible for decision-making process and project managers, to take the more convenient decision. In addition, the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) determines the potential environmental impacts of a process, product or service throughout its life cycle. However, Lundin and Morrison argue that LCA has the disadvantage of being very time-consuming and complex; therefore, they propose an iterative procedure for select IES from the LCA results and from case studies. According to this model, this paper presents a proposal of IES addressed to the primary copper industry at Chile. Keywords: Environmental management, sustainability indicators, life cycle assessment, smelting, copper cathode.