Development of a pre-verified epd tool with process simulation capabilities for the aggregates industry

Journal article, 2021

This paper has two aims: to describe the current status and challenges of aggregates producers regarding the analysis and communication of environmental information of their products and to present a layout of a pre-verified tool with simulation capabilities that could assist aggregates producers with their environmental goals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three Swedish aggregates producers, an aggregates customer, and an expert agency. Additionally, published Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for aggregates and the EN 15804:2012 + A2:2019 were studied to reveal current practices and upcoming changes due to the updated standard. The synergies with process simulations were explored as a step towards using the EPD framework for continuous improvement of aggregates production. The interviews indicated that the main challenge for aggregates producers is the lack of easily available plant data for environmental calculations and clearly defined environmental goals at each plant. The proposed tool uses a common process flowsheet for both EPDs and simulations and has a pre-defined LCA module. The use of such a tool is expected to raise the environmental interest at aggregates plants and improve collaboration with LCA experts. Since the analysis is based on the Swedish aggregates market, the interview results are not directly generalizable to the European context.