Eco-efficiency of fabric filters in the Italian ceramic tile industry

Italy is an important producer of ceramic tiles, with a high production share in Europe (50%) and worldwide (16%). Since early 1990s, fabric filters have been installed to reduce emissions of dust, lead, fluorine, etc. from firing kilns. Such end-of-pipe technologies can increase energy consumption and production costs. This paper presents a simplified LCA to assess the overall environmental effects of fabric filters in Italian ceramic tiles production. We also calculate the eco-efficiency of such filters, the additional cost per unit reduction of emissions. The results indicate that the environmental drawbacks of the filter are small and that, in comparison to existing eco-efficiency reference values, this air pollution abatement technique can be seen as an eco-efficient technique. These results can be useful in the identification of best available techniques (BAT), which is required under environmental regulations such as EC directive 96/61 (IPPC directive).