Life Cycle Assessment Applied to Red Ceramic Bricks Production Versus Red Ceramic Bricks Incorporated with Stone Wastes: A Comparative Study

Ceramic bricks play an important role in the Brazilian economy and have red clay as the basic raw material for this industry. The aim of this study was to discuss the main environmental impacts related to the manufacturing of red clay bricks, comparing the conventional production versus the production of red clay brick incorporated with ornamental stone processing waste (OSPW). The environmental performance of the production of red clay bricks in Brazil was evaluated with a Life Cycle Assessment study based on the international standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. The main impacts of brick production are associated with atmospheric emissions at the stage of extraction and transformation. In both systems studied, the analysis showed relevance regarding the impacts related to human health. This is due to the respiratory effects caused by the clay extraction and burning process, since this step is largely responsible for CO2 and particulates emissions. The mass reduction of the red clay raw material represents a possibility to reduce environmental impacts and improve the sustainability of ceramic bricks, since the bricks incorporated with 5% of OSPW increases the useful life 2.91-fold when compared to the traditional product. The improvement in the estimated useful life of ceramic bricks can reduce the disposal of these materials in landfills, leading to reduction in the environmental impacts.