ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Sustainable Design and Construction
Volume 11 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2025.1654253
This article is part of the Research TopicEmbracing Circularity in Building Retrofitting for Sustainable TransformationView all 3 articles
ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF CERAMIC TILE PRODUCTION: A CRADLE-TO-GATE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT CASE STUDY FROM SRI LANKA
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Belihuloya, Sri Lanka
- 2University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Environmental sustainability in the ceramic tile industry has gained global attention due to its significant impact on the building and construction sector. This study evaluates and compares the environmental impacts of conventional ceramic tile production with four proposed eco-innovation scenarios using a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) approach by quantifying environmental impacts per square meter of gross floor area from a cradle-to-gate perspective, using. It quantifies environmental impacts per square meter of gross floor area from a cradle-to-gate perspective, utilizing the SimaPro Faculty version. All four eco-innovation scenarios were compared against the conventional (base) scenario to assess potential environmental improvements. Scenario 1 partially replaces virgin raw materials with waste materials (e.g., fly ash), Scenario 2 focuses on energy recovery for heating in the drying process, Scenario 3 substitutes conventional energy sources with cleaner alternatives, and. Scenario 2 focuses on energy recovery for heating during the drying process. Scenario 3 substitutes conventional energy sources with cleaner alternatives. Scenario 4 integrates all these eco-innovative strategies. The results indicate that human carcinogenic toxicity is the most critical environmental impact across all five scenarios, including the conventional (base) scenario and the four improved alternatives. including the conventional process. Among the alternatives, Scenario 4 emerges as the most sustainable option, achieving a 26.73% reduction in terrestrial acidification, a 23.23% decrease in stratospheric ozone depletion, and a 21.36% reduction in global warming potential compared to the baseline scenario. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and ceramic manufacturers in Sri Lanka, supporting the development of sustainable strategies to enhance environmental performance and contribute to national goals for reducing the environmental footprint in the construction sector. By integrating renewable energy, waste materials, and energy-efficient technologies, the ceramic tile industry can transition toward more sustainable production, balancing economic growth with environmental stewardship. This research addresses local challenges and contributes to global efforts in sustainable manufacturing, setting a precedent for other industries.
Keywords: Ceramic tile, Life Cycle Assessment, Eco-innovation scenarios, mid-point environmental impacts, sustainable construction RC01-09 Commented [A15]: RC01-09
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Vijerathne, Wahala and Asmone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ashan Senel Asmone, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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