How to improve the cradle-to-gate environmental and economic sustainability in lime-based construction materials? Answers from a real-life case-study

A real-case study is presented aiming at contributing to the understanding of environmental and economic sustainability of lime-based mortars, renders and plasters manufacturing in Europe. A Life Cycle Inventory is presented and used for scenario analysis. The Life Cycle Assessment shows that the binders’ production dominates the Climate Change, Resources and Ecosystem quality categories while additives are critical in Human Health. The CO2 emissions can have a direct impact on the total costs (up to 40%) considering the 2022 carbon pricing. A holistic analysis and suggestions (mix composition and critical processes) to increase the sustainability in the sector is provided