Avaliação do ciclo de vida nas atividades de coprocessamento de resíduos industriais em fornos de clínquer no Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The co-processing of industrial waste has been globally used in the replacement of traditional materials and fossil fuels in clinker production at cement plants, aiming especially the reduction of gases emission that contribute to the deepening of the greenhouse effect. It is relevant to say that the co-processing realities in developed countries are quite different from those in developing countries. While in Europe this activity has automated processes and a rigorous screening of waste, in Brazil the preparation is directly made by workers, with many kinds of hazardous waste, which may cause health issues. The overall goal of this work is to identify and assess the potential impacts of the co-processing of hazardous waste chain in the environment and human health. The methodology consisted in the technical use of Life Cycle Assessment, which was applied in the “gate-to-gate” approach for blending plants, “cradle-to-gate” for the co-processing chain (blending plant, transportation, and clinkerization), and “gate-to-grave” for comparing the destination of waste to a clinker kiln, and to an industrial sanitary landfill. General profiles were created based on the data from two blending plants and three cement plants, all located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which were selected from the portals of SISNAMA. The main Life Cycle Assessment method chosen was ReCiPe. The results of this study have shown that the midpoint impact Human Toxicity was the most significant, while Human Health was the main endpoint impact, both caused by the emissions of metals such as Selenium, Barium, Manganese, and Arsenium in the environment. This study concludes that the Brazilian cement industry must prioritize not only the reduction of carbon emissions in its processes but also take actions to reduce the Human Toxicity impact. Regarding the sustainability aspects of the product, we must consider all the productive chain, including the acquisition and preparation of waste, which this work has proven to be sensitive points. For this purpose, we recommend actions throughout all the productive chain, such as the implementation of pollutants reduction program in generating companies, the automation of blending process, reducing the workers’ exposure to toxic substances and odors of waste, and the increase of biomass sources in clinker kilns. It is vital that the environmental authorities execute with greater strictness the monitoring and inspection of blending and cement plants activities.