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ResumoA indústria da mineração do ferro brasileira ocupa posição relevante no cenário mundial, exportando para os principais mercados consumidores os produtos beneficiados. Esta indústria de beneficiamento tem consumo elevado de recursos e de energia, o que consequentemente gera grandes quantidades de emissões gasosas, líquidas e sólidas, contaminantes do meio ambiente. Nesse contexto o presente artigo tem por objetivo avaliar o ciclo de vida da produção de pelotas de minério de ferro, através da identificação dos impactos ambientais gerados nas etapas de lavra, beneficiamento, transporte e pelotização, com o intuito de dar subsídios a medidas mitigadoras. Foi realizado um estudo de caso em uma empresa de produção de pelotas de minério de ferro e utilizando a metodologia de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida, baseado na norma ISO 14040. De acordo com os resultados obtidos os impactos ambientais mais importantes em relação ao ciclo de vida da produção de pelota, são referentes à categoria de depleção dos recursos minerais com 64,4% do total ponderado e a emissão de particulados no processo de lavra, que monta a 28,6% do mesmo total. Enquanto a fase com maior contribuição para o impacto total para a produção da pelota é a de beneficiamento. Palavras-chave: Avaliação do ciclo de vida -ACV; Pelotização; Avaliação de impacto ambiental. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF IRON ORE PELLETS PRODUCTION IN BRAZIL: A CASE STUDY AbstractThe brazilian iron mining industry occupies important position on the world production, exporting the processed iron ore products to the main consumer markets. The brazilian beneficiation plants have high consumption of resources and energy, which consequently generates large amounts of gaseous, liquid and solid emissions that are environmental contaminants. In this context, this article aims to assess the life cycle of the production of iron ore pellets, by identifying the environmental impacts on the mining steps, beneficiation, transportation and pelletization, in order to give subsidies to mitigation measures. A case study was undertaken in an iron ore pellet production company and using the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment, based on ISO 14040 standard. According to the results, the most important environmental impacts, in relation to the life cycle of the pellet, refer to the category of mineral resources depletion with 64.4% of the weighted total and particulate emissions in the mining process, which amounts to 28.6 % of this total. Meanwhile the step with the highest contribution to the total impact for pellet production is the beneficiation.

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Brazil is a large producer of dairy products, with an important role of milk in the country's economy beyond the nutritional aspects. In turn, the dairy industry is associated with environmental impacts, such as water and energy consumption, waste generation, liquid effluents, and atmospheric emissions. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an environmental management tool used to measure the environmental impacts of goods, services, and products. This study used the LCA to assess the impacts resulting from the production of Minas Frescal and cured Minas cheese in an artisanal production facility in Casimiro de Abreu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. LCA results showed that the most significant environmental impacts were associated with the dairy farm under study, which is a source of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from livestock, particularly methane (CH4), produced through enteric fermentation and manure decomposition, mainly contributing for the impact categories of climate change (31.56%) and human toxicity with carcinogenic effects (35.46%). The cured Minas cheese presented higher impacts when compared to Minas Frescal cheese due to the larger volume of milk used in the manufacturing process. Thus, the present study suggested mitigation measures to lower the environmental impacts based on adjustments in animal feed to reduce atmospheric emissions.