Life Cycle Assessment guidelines for the sustainable production and recycling of aggregates: The Sustainable Aggregates Resource Management project (SARMa)

Gian Andrea Blengini, Elena Garbarino, Slavko Šolar, Deborah J. Shields, Tamás Hámor, Raffaele Vinai, Zacharias Agioutantis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

69 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mining/quarrying industry is a sector of industry where there are very few Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools, and where the role of LCA has been poorly investigated. A key issue is the integration of three inter-dependent life cycles: Project, Asset and Product. Given the unique features of mining LCAs, this Note from the Field presents a common methodology implemented within the Sustainable Aggregates Resource Management (SARMa) Project (www.sarmaproject.eu) in order to boost adoption of LCA in the aggregate industry in South Eastern Europe. The proposed methodology emphasises the importance of resource efficiency and recycling in the context of a Sustainable Supply Mix of aggregates for the construction industry. Through its adoption, aggregate producers, recyclers, and governmental planners would gain confidence with LCA tools and conduct consistent and meaningful life cycle analyses of natural and recycled aggregates.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)177-181
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Cleaner Production
Volume27
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2012

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The research presented in this paper was developed within the SARMa Project, an European Commission funded project: Contract No SEE AF/A/151/2.4/X ( www.sarmaproject.eu ).

Keywords

  • Life Cycle Assessment
  • Mining
  • Natural aggregates
  • Recycled aggregates
  • Recycling
  • Resource-efficiency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • General Environmental Science
  • Strategy and Management
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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