Life cycle assessment of the production of cement : a South African case study
Authors:   , Olagunju Busola Dorcas 
Published: September 2023

The relentless ongoing pursuit of innovation, development, urbanization and immigration for a better quality of life has impacted the natural environment. Also, the various consequences of continuous industrial activities are seen in the departure from what is supposed to be the norms of nature and an ideal environment free of toxicity, pollution and unquantifiable instantaneous changes. One of these is variation in temperature experienced in recent times as against what it was about 2000 years ago before the industrial revolution. A world with an increasing population requires infrastructure to support this growth. The construction industry is able to support this growth by building necessary structures that will accommodate environmental sustainability. However, the construction industry is responsible for several environmental impacts as a result of various activities. Concrete is one of the major base materials used in the construction industry and cement is an essential ingredient in concrete production. Several environmental impacts ranging from high greenhouse gas (GHG) levels to high energy consumption (fossil fuel and electricity) to high resource usage are associated with cement production. Quantifying these impacts is a major roadmap to reducing them. In this study an analysis of the production model of South African cement plants was carried out so as to quantify its impacts, and know how they consequently affect the lives of South Africans, her resources as well as the ecosystem; so that proper mitigation strategies can be recommended. The study carried out a Life cycle assessment (LCA) of cement using both the midpoint and endpoint approaches of the LCIA. LCA is a tool used to analyze the environmental impact of a process or product from start to finish. This study carried out a cradle-to-gate analysis of 1kg of cement produced in a typical South African plant using data from the Ecoinvent database and SimaPro 9.1.1 software. The result showed that for every 1kg of cement produced, O.993 CO2 eq, was emitted into the atmosphere; 98.8% was actual CO2 emission and its resultant effect was global warming which causes changes in climatic conditions. Also, 1.6kg of 1,4-Dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB) eq was emitted into the air and water, which caused high toxicity in these media and for every 1kg of cement produced, 0.139kg of oil eq was produced and its effect was seen in fossil resources scarcity. Of this value, 0.125kg was from the burning of coal In both approaches, the result was further analyzed with respect to five major production processes: (1) Clinker production (2) Raw material consumption (3) Electricity usage (4) Fuel consumption and (5) Transportation. The results showed that the clinker production stage contributed 76.3% to global warming; and raw material consumption contributed 95.9%, 99.9%, 90.7%, and 77.9% to ionization radiation, mineral scarcity, fossil resource scarcity and terrestrial ecotoxicity, respectively. Fuel consumption contributed 98.6%, 96.3%, 85.7% and 76.9% to freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, human carcinogenic toxicity, and human non-carcinogenic toxicity, respectively. Electricity usage contributed 65.8% and 64.8% to stratospheric ozone depletion and fine particulate matter formation, respectively. Though South Africa relies on the importation of clinker and cement, in the endpoint approach an estimation was carried out based on the annual requirement of cement in South Africa without importing either commodity. The result showed that 55 404 was the potential number of human lives that could be endangered annually; 133 species had the potential to be endangered annually, and the effect of a potential scarcity of resources caused total a marginal price increase of R6.2 billion due to these damages. The results of the analysis are in line with previously published literature but with slight variations. In conclusion, the study prescribed mitigation and adaptation strategies to counter these environmental impacts.