| dc.description.abstract |
Sanitary wares are the integral part of construction materials but there is
hardly any study in the literature which shows the environmental impacts from the
sanitary ware. This paper aims at assessing sustainability of a ceramic sanitary ware
supply chain by quantifying the environmental impacts from materials and resources
used throughout the different phases of a sanitary ware life cycle. The impacts are
quantified using ReCiPe endpoint and midpoint assessment methods with Umberto
NXT Software and eco-invent 3.0 database. This study uses climate change, fossil
depletion, human toxicity, metal depletion, ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification,
water depletion, damage to ecosystem quality, human health, and resources assessment
categories to quantify the environmental impacts. The life cycle assessment
finds that consumption of heavy fuel oil, electricity, grass, and cement mortar is primarily
responsible for the negative impacts on the environment. It is also found that
manufacturing and transportation phases of the supply chain have maximum contribution
to the environmental degradation. The methodology, assessment methods
and impact categories used in the study can be used by the other ceramic enterprises
for the identification and benchmarking of environmental hotspots in their supply
chains. It is expected that this study will be useful for the policy makers as well as
the manufacturer to find the key areas for decreasing the environmental impacts and
enhancing sustainability of a sanitary ware supply chain. |
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