Comparison between Direct Air Emission and Life Cycle Assessment methods for Opencast Mining and Quarrying - Impacts and Benefits

Paper in proceeding, 2026

According to the Industrial Emissions Portal Regulation (EU) 2024/1244 (IEPR), large production facilities in the European Union (EU) must report pollutant emissions to air, water, and soil. For large opencast mining and quarrying facilities, IEPR requires facility-level reporting of emissions to air, including greenhouse gases (GHG) and diffuse dust emissions (Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and Particulate Matter (PM)). These emissions originate from operations such as drilling and blasting, material transport, processing, and storage, as well as from explosives and fuel consumption in non-road mobile machinery (NRMM). The Direct Air Emissions (DAE) estimation method used in this study can estimate diffuse dust, GHG, and other air pollutant emissions from different operations. In the construction sector, there is a growing demand to quantify the environmental impacts of aggregates. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a commonly used method for quantifying the impacts of aggregates. To correctly select, apply, and interpret results from both methods, aggregates producers need to understand the relevant standards, their intended purposes, and the key differences between the two methods. A case study was developed on a quarrying site involved in the EU Horizon 2020-funded project ROTATE, where both methods were implemented. Comparing the results from the two methods shows differences; for instance, the CO2 emissions estimated per tonne of aggregates by LCA (1.40E+00 kg) were higher than those calculated by DAE (8.79E-01 kg). For PM emissions (<10µm and <2.5µm), DAE (5.18E-02 kg) estimates higher values than LCA (4.76E-04 kg). These differences were attributed to the scope and the emission factors used in the two methods. Despite these differences, the two methods can complement each other: site-specific TSP and PM emissions estimated by DAE can be used in LCA to capture site-specific impacts from diffuse dust emissions. In conclusion, DAE can help fill gaps in LCA and quantify site-specific impacts from dust emissions. In contrast, LCA covers a broad range of impacts by encompassing emissions to air (direct and indirect), water, and soil. The results from both methods can guide improvements in operational efficiency, support decarbonization efforts, and help meet regulatory requirements for quarrying and mining sites.