Environmental impacts evaluation of a ceramic industry processes through integration of Life Cycle Assessment and Risk Assessment

This study aims to assess the impacts of three waste management scenarios, two representing internal recycling and one landfill disposal of ceramic powders generated by tiles edge-grinding in ceramic tile production processes. In eight out of nine environmental categories examined through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, results show that the two recycling scenarios have impacts at least one order of magnitude smaller than the disposal scenario, confirming the effectiveness of the circular economy approach. An additional Risk Assessment (RA) analysis is carried out through WinDimula 3.0 model applied to recycling scenarios to measure and compare the dispersed powder impacts on human health. The combined use of site-generic (LCA) and site-specific (RA) assessment methods allows analysed system knowledge to increase towards a more complete and holistic evaluation of critical environmental issues.