Improving the sustainability of ceramic tile production in Turkey

Abstract

The concept of environmental sustainability and its applications in the ceramic industry has been raised due to the environmental issues related to the construction sector. This study evaluated and compared the environmental impacts of ceramic tiles manufactured by the current production technologies. Four different cleaner scenarios are applied based on cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment. Scenario A refers to the energy recovery to supply heat for the drying process. Scenario B is related to efficient combus- tion. Scenario C relates to reducing the thickness of ceramic tiles to minimize energy consumption and save raw materials. Scenario D is a combination of the other scenarios. According to the results, the tile production stage is the main hotspot for all the impact categories except abiotic depletion and terrestrial ecotoxicity potential for all the cases. Scenario D has a 22% reduction in ozone layer depletion. The green- est option for glazed ceramic tile production is Scenario D. This scenario has the lowest global warming potential, being 21% lower than the base case. The findings of this paper could assist the government and ceramic producers in developing robust strategies for improving the sustainability of the Turkish construction sector and contributing to the country’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.