Life cycle assessment of concrete with ceramic waste powder and stone Dust: A central India case study

This study presents a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of M60 concrete incorporating 15 % and 45 % replacement levels of ceramic waste powder (sourced from construction and demolition waste) and stone dust (a stone crushing industry by-product) as partial cement and sand substitutes respectively, demonstrating a circular economy approach to sustainable concrete production under central Indian conditions. The impacts were determined in 18 categories using OpenLCA v2.5 with ecoinvent 3.11 database and ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method. Findings indicate 2.1-16.3 % decrease in all categories with the highest decrease in terrestrial ecotoxicity (16.3 %), land use (16.1 %), photochemical oxidant formation (13.2) and climate change (12.5). Cement production remains the dominant hotspot (85.4 % of climate impact), while local waste sourcing reduces transport impacts by 18.1 %. Sensitivity analysis indicated that modified concrete was 112 times less sensitive to transportation parameters than conventional concrete, which demonstrated flexibility in operational terms. The quality of the ecosystem improved by 12.5 percent, the effects of human health declined by 10.3 percent (DALYs) and depletion of fossil and mineral resources reduced by an approximated 14.5 percent. The fact that there is no burden shifting is a confirmative factor of the environmental resilience of this dual waste substitution strategy. The strategy offers a locally suitable, replicable system of sustainable concrete manufacturing that contributes to the low-carbon and the circular economy goals of India.