Life Cycle Assessment of Cement Factory and Modular Gasification of Waste

PurposeConcrete, with its huge quantities produced daily, comprises crucial raw materials such as gypsum, limestone, clay and others in small proportions. Given the global challenges we face, finding a solution to mitigate the environmental impact associated with the production of each kilogram of cement is deemed imperative. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore the potential integration of a conventional cement factory and a gasification plant capable of generating energy and heat through the partial oxidation of municipal solid waste.Design/methodology/approachTo assess the changes in environmental impacts between conventional cement production and the upgraded process, the adopted approach was based on a life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted employing SimaPro software v. 9.5 with the Ecoinvent 3.9.1 database. To standardize the comparison of the processes to a specific market, the study was contextualized in Latvia (LV), specifically in the city of Riga, as it hosts the only cement plant supplying this country.FindingsThe findings reveal a significant reduction in various environmental indicators between the baseline and upgraded cement production methods. A 45% decrease in global warming potential (expressed in kgCO2eq) was assessed. Moreover, the calculations pointed out a 94.96% reduction in ozone formation on human health (expressed in kgNOxeq). Advantages were found also in terms of a decrease in fine particulate matter formation, a decline in ozone formation on the terrestrial ecosystem and a decrease in terrestrial acidification.Research limitations/implicationsThe context of LV was taken into account according to the present scenario of waste management: municipal solid waste composition is the one official. Trends in its characteristics will be analyzed in future works.Practical implicationsCement factories are responsible for an environmental impact surely not negligible. Conventional waste-to-energy plants (combustion-based) are difficult to be accepted locally even if the sector evolved towards modern technologies. The proposed integration can contribute to a new paradigm allowing a lower environmental impact.Originality/valueDespite the scarcity of literature on LCA applied to cement factories integrated with waste gasification, the obtained results show that this approach can be an interesting alternative to conventional processes. The integration of modular gasification and cement production is original also for another reason: the modularity of the gasification technology taken into account allows a full-scale design calibrated to the requirement of the cement facility.