Sustainability assessment of sanitary ware supply chain using life cycle assessment framework—A case study

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.