A decision support tool for communicating the environmnetlal performance of products and ornganisations from the ceramic sector (Epub ahead of print)

This paper presents a tool designed to facilitate the communication of environmental information in the ceramic sector, both for companies and products. Specifically, the communication tool allows the environmental product declaration to be obtained for ceramic tiles in accordance with ISO 14025 and the environmental declaration of the organisation in accordance with the European Community Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS Register). Moreover, this tool makes it possible to verify compliance with the ecological criteria established by the European Eco-label programme for hard floor coverings (ceramic tiles) and, when they are not met, propose some best available techniques (BAT) to facilitate compliance with them. To do so, the tool is divided into four parts: (1) input data, where the user provides information related to the consumption of raw materials and resources, emissions into air, water and soil, solid waste, etc.; (2) database, including environmental indicators for different impact categories for the characteristics of the materials, processes and emissions of the ceramic sector; (3) reference documents, such as product category rules or different European regulations to guide the correct implementation of the environmental communication instruments included in the tool; and (4) output data in terms of the environmental declaration for the product and for the organisation, and verification of compliance with the European eco-label criteria and the proposal of BAT in the case of non-fulfilment, together with their environmental and economic consequences. The application of the tool is tested by a case study of ceramic tiles produced in an average Spanish organisation.The authors gratefully acknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (DPI2008- 04926) and the Generalitat Valenciana (ACOMP/2010/257) for providing funding without which this work would not have been possible