Although 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) measures were proposed to improve sustainability 18, developing a standard method to achieve balance between the environmental impacts and economic development is still a challenge. Mineral industries also provide significant economic benefits to the society, as is the case with gold 17. As a result, the related environmental implications, such as global warming and pollution, have become a global issue, posing a significant risk to both human and ecosystem health 16. crushing, grinding, sizing, drying and calcining) 15. The results showed that metal production generates a range of gaseous and particulate matter (PM) emissions during metal and mineral processing (i.e. Previous studies applied ReCiPe or USETox impact assessment methods to assess environmental impacts during metal processing in individual countries, such as Australia 10, China 11, Norway 12 and Poland 13, as well as at a global scale 14. 9 identified ReCiPe and USETox as the best midpoint, and midpoint to endpoint characterisation methods. There is currently no standard and uniformly accepted impact assessment method, although Hauschild et al. However, there is a wide range of developed life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods, which can be selected depending on the objectives of the study.
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#Openlca free database software
The most widely used LCA software tools are SimaPro, GaBi, Umberto® and openLCA 8. Norgate and Haque 7 applied life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool to determine the environmental impacts of a range of metal production and confirmed its importance as a method for wider impact assessment of the industries.
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Conservation of natural resources and waste reduction 4, increasing the product value 5, including social dimension of sustainability 6 have also been highlighted as important parameters for industrial sustainability. It is generally accepted that direct emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants are some of the most important parameters for defining sustainability of industrial processes 3. There have been different attempts to investigate the parameters of importance to define sustainability of industrial operations. The balance between the economic benefits and environmental impacts is one of the ways by which industrial sustainability can be assessed. However, production and refining of metals are some of the most energy intensive and highly environmentally challenging industrial activities 1, emitting greenhouse gases, particles, trace metals, acidic gases and organic pollutants to the environment 2. Production of metals has significant input to global economies with their wide and diverse applications in everyday life. Improvement of sustainability of the production of lead would require further control of trace metal emissions, while for aluminium and nickel production, improved control of emissions of particles and the acidic gases SO 2 and NO x. For instance, adoption of renewable energy sources would significantly decrease the greenhouse gas emissions and the associated environmental impacts of the copper, zinc, gold, and iron and steel production industries. The work further revealed the specific emissions for better control for each industry taking into consideration their relative environmental and economic impacts. The results indicate that lead, followed by aluminium and nickel production had the largest environmental impacts. ReCiPe midpoint and endpoint hierarchist impact assessment methods were used to investigate the environmental impacts of the selected industries. The emissions of selected representative industries in Australia were sourced from public national emission inventories and used as input parameters in the openLCA software.
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This work provides environmental impact assessment of the production of aluminium, copper, gold, iron and steel, lead, nickel and zinc, and considers their contribution to the economy. The balance between the economic inputs and environmental footprint of the metal production industries determines their contribution to sustainability. Metal production industries are associated with positive economic benefits, however their activities are significantly resource and energy intensive, contributing to emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases to the environment.