Resource efficiency versus market trends in the ceramic tile industry: Effect on the supply chain in Italy and Spain

Dondi, Michele; García-Ten, J.; Rambaldi, Elisa; Zanelli, Chiara; Vicent-Cabedo, Mónica

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105271

Cited by 44 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Italian companies use, on average, about 20 kg of a mix of raw materials called ceramic body to manufacture 1 square meter of tiles [48]. In 2020, the Italian ceramic industry produced 344.3 million square meters of tiles [49], so the natural raw material requirement was: 344.3 million m 2 × 20 kg/m 2 = 6.886 million tons (1) The main material supply sources of the Italian ceramic industry are located in Turkey (sodium feldspar), Ukraine (ball clays), Germany (ball clays), and, to a lesser extent, in Italy (potassium feldspar, kaolinitic volcanic clays, and sands) [44]. Recent studies carried out in the same industry have shown that the environmental impact of the finished product is attributable not only to the production process in the strict sense but also to the raw material sourcing system.…”

Section: Industrial Background and Methodological Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper, therefore, aims to fill the literature gap regarding the role played by smart manufacturing techniques in the adoption of circular economy practices [42], and how to transform part of Big Data into Smart Data [39], focusing on the re-engineering of the product and input sourcing system in an operational environment with a quantitative approach [41]. To achieve this goal, the study analyzes the manufacturing process of ceramic tiles for construction in Italy, a resource-intensive industry [43] with a complex input sourcing system [44], a high level of adoption of Industry 4.0 digital technologies [45,46], and characterized by the implementation of internationally recognized environmental best practices [11]. From the environmental point of view, the Italian ceramic industry, thanks to continuous investments, can count on more sustainable technologies with pollution levels well below the legal limits and on the Best Available Techniques (BATs) [47].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Industry 4.0 and Smart Data as Enablers of the Circular Economy in Manufacturing: Product Re-Engineering with Circular Eco-Design

et al. 2021

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The digital transformation of manufacturing firms, in addition to making operations more efficient, offers important opportunities both to promote the transition to a circular economy and to experiment with new techniques for designing smarter and greener products. This study integrates Industry 4.0 technologies, smart data, Life Cycle Assessment methodology, and material microstructural analysis techniques to develop and apply a circular eco-design model that has been implemented in the Italian ceramic tile manufacturing industry. The model has been initially adopted in a simulation environment to define five different scenarios of raw material supply, alternative to the current production one. The scenarios were then validated operationally at laboratory scale and in a pilot environment, demonstrating that a proper selection of raw material transport systems significantly improves the environmental performance of the ceramic product. Both the results of the laboratory tests and of the pre-industrial experiments have demonstrated the technological feasibility of the solutions identified with circular eco-design, enabling the re-engineering of the ceramic product as the fifth of the 6Rs of the circular economy.

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Section: Industrial Background and Methodological Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industry 4.0 and Smart Data as Enablers of the Circular Economy in Manufacturing: Product Re-Engineering with Circular Eco-Design

et al. 2021

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“…Moreover, logistics companies seek to enhance supply chain effectiveness through real-time monitoring of resources, while companies aim to improve productivity by monitoring staff and customer movements [ 8 ]. As a result, the demand for location services is growing [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bluetooth 5.1: An Analysis of Direction Finding Capability for High-Precision Location Services

Pau

Arena

Gebremariam

et al. 2021

Sensors

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This paper presents an in-depth overview of the Bluetooth 5.1 Direction Finding standard’s potentials, thanks to enhancing the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) firmware. This improvement allows producers to create location applications based on the Angle of Departure (AoD) and the Angle of Arrival (AoA). Accordingly, it is conceivable to design proper Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS), for instance, for the traceability of resources, assets, and people. First of all, Radio Frequency (RF) radiogoniometry techniques, helpful in calculating AoA and AoD angles, are introduced in this paper. Subsequently, the topic relating to signal direction estimation is deepened. The Bluetooth Core Specification updates concerning version 5.1, both at the packet architecture and prototyping levels, are also reported. Some suitable platforms and development kits for running the new features are then presented, and some basic applications are illustrated. This paper’s final part allows ascertaining the improvement made by this new definition of BLE and possible future developments, especially concerning applications related to devices, assets, or people’s indoor localization. Some preliminary results gathered in a real evaluation scenario are also presented.

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“…The ceramic industry sector is a large consumer of natural resources and energy and, as a consequence, a rather large emitter of CO 2 [9]. More than 50% of natural resources (sands, feldspars and clays) come from foreign countries and travel by truck for 35% (62 g CO 2 /ton km), by ship for 51% (34 g CO 2 /ton km) and/or by train for 14% (26 g CO 2 /ton km) of journeys [10]. The thermal energy used in the process is usually obtained from natural gas, whose combustion produces emissions of carbon dioxide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathway towards a High Recycling Content in Traditional Ceramics

Rambaldi

2021

Ceramics

Self Cite

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The present work shows the path towards the industrial production of ceramic tiles containing a high amount of recycling materials in the substitution of natural raw materials. Starting from the applied research at laboratory scale, which is able to demonstrate the work feasibility, other important milestones consist of pilot scale production until the proper industrial production. Finally, when all these steps are positively achieved, the practice is consolidated and it is possible to reach the concrete sustainability benefits (social, environmental and economic). The results of an industry driven project that aimed to produce porcelain stoneware tiles containing 85% of recycled materials were selected to show this path. This innovative ceramic product—containing soda-lime scrap glass from urban-separated collection (post-consumer waste) and unfired scrap tiles from industrial ceramic process (pre-consumer waste)—was sintered about 200 °C lower than a traditional porcelain stoneware tile. It maintains high technical performances belonging to class BIa of the International Standard of ceramic tile classification (EN ISO 14411). Moreover, this product fulfils the standard requirements for dry-pressed ceramic tiles with low water absorption (≤0.5%), and it obtained the certification UNI Keymark. The LCA study was also performed and the results showed a significantly lower environmental impact of this innovative product compared to a traditional porcelain stoneware tile.

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Resource efficiency versus market trends in the ceramic tile industry: Effect on the supply chain in Italy and Spain

Cited by 44 publications

References 23 publications

Industry 4.0 and Smart Data as Enablers of the Circular Economy in Manufacturing: Product Re-Engineering with Circular Eco-Design

Industry 4.0 and Smart Data as Enablers of the Circular Economy in Manufacturing: Product Re-Engineering with Circular Eco-Design

Bluetooth 5.1: An Analysis of Direction Finding Capability for High-Precision Location Services

Pathway towards a High Recycling Content in Traditional Ceramics

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