Comparative life cycle assessment of ornamental stone processing waste recycling, sand, clay and limestone filler

Abstract

Owing to the cost of destination and transportation of ornamental stone processing waste, many studies focused on the reuse and recycling of this product. However, there is a scarcity of articles addressing the environmental viability of the recycling of ornamental stone. In this context, this study comprehends a comparative life cycle assessment of ornamental stone processing waste and conventional materials: sand, clay and limestone filler. The modelling software used was SimaPro 8.3.0.0 with Ecoinvent 3.2 database, employing the ReCiPe H/H methodology for impact assessment. The results show that the recycling of ornamental stone processing waste is environmentally preferable, and the artificial drying alternatives, such as flash dryer and rotary dryer, have lower environmental impact than extracting and processing clay through atomisation methods and limestone filler production. The sensitivity analysis indicated that it is possible to transport the ornamental stone processing waste 37 km after processing, so it reaches the same environmental impact as sand extracted by dredging. On the other hand, an increase of 25% in the energy consumption incremented only 7% of the environmental impact owing to the Brazilian energy mix.

Temporal flowability evolution of slag-based self-compacting concrete with recycled concrete aggregate

“…Therefore, these factors were omitted, as they are irrelevant for a comparative analysis of the carbon footprint (Song et al, 2019). Table 9 shows the carbon footprint of the raw materials of the SCC mixes under study, which were obtained through a life cycle assessment performed by Yang et al (2015) for the binders, admixtures, and water, Rebello et al (2019) for the aggregate powders, and Hossain et al (2016) for the NA and RCA.…”

“…Thus, fresh density increased with the higher cement content of CEM III that is of higher density than the aggregate, and decreased when fine RCA, less dense than fine NA, was added (Fiol et al, 2018). The densest aggregate powder, limestone fines 0/0.5 mm, produced the densest mixtures (Rebello et al, 2019).…”

Bending tests on building beams containing electric arc furnace slag and alternative binders and manufactured with energy-saving placement techniques

“…However, limestone fines are extracted in excess of the quantities that are commercially required, so this product is often heaped around the quarry site. Nevertheless, these fines could be used more extensively in certain dry concrete mixes to enhance their workability, a common problem in EAFS concrete, implying economic savings and contributing to global sustainability [44].…”

Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Glass Powder Incorporation on Concrete: A Bridge Retrofit Study Case

“…With the average value of 8000 kJ/kg of evaporated water, the final consumption resulting was 1.2 MJ/kg of dry residue. For waste milling, the values in Rebello et al [61] and Alves et. al.…”