Environmental product declaration of recycled aggregates: A LCA approach

This study used the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology embedded in environmental product declaration (EPD) to quantify the environmental impact related to the production of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste. The software Umberto LCA+ was used, and the impact assessment was made using several impact categories established in EPD norm for construction materials from DAP Habitat system (EPD for Portuguese construction materials). The results showed that 1 t of recycled aggregates have impacts on the environment, resulting mostly from transportation of waste aggregates into the recycling plant. More research is needed to improve the environmental performance of the recycled aggregates, like comparing them with virgin aggregates. The landfilling of waste aggregates must be compared with the recycled aggregates to demonstrate the environmental benefits of such circular economy process. Other destinations of the recycled aggregates instead of the use at road construction should also be addressed in future research.