Inventory of the production of ceramic floor tiles and ceramic bricks production in the context of the life cycle assessment

Abstract

The development of databases linking the life-cycle of materials and the processes that consume and dispose them can give an important support for decision making in the selection of environmental appropriate options. For each stage of this cycle, the production of such inventory includes data collection and processing. This article describes a field study on the production processes of two manufacturers of ceramic bricks and two manufacturers of ceramic flooring tiles. The data presented are essentially related to the consumption of raw materials and energy, and the generation of residues, associated with the manufacture of 1 m2 of floor tiles and ceramic bricks. Such data can be used as environmental indicators for comparisons to other materials that perform the same function, or as a spatial-temporal reference for the products and processes described.