At present, ceramic dinnerware is widely utilized in both household settings and the hospitality industry. These products primarily rely on virgin raw materials and an energy intensive manufacturing process, resulting in considerable environmental impacts. Porcelain and bone china represent two distinct product types, differentiated by composition and processing parameters, with bone china generally exhibiting greater durability and water resistance than normal porcelain. Due to differences in manufacturing pathways and product durability, it is essential to assess the entire ecological profile of bone china and porcelain in order to evaluate the associated environmental trade-offs between these products. This study adopts the Life Cycle Engineering approach to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of the supply chains of bone china and porcelain dinner plates and proposes engineering interventions to mitigate environmental hotspots. The environmental impact of producing a single dinner plate was considered for the analysis, along with ‘one cycle of use’ as the functional unit to compare the environmental profiles of the selected products from a cradle-to-grave perspective. After performing the life cycle impact assessment, the environmental detriments and benefits of each life cycle stage were compared between the two product types. Furthermore, the trade-off between manufacturing energy demand and enhanced durability is examined. Several process modifications are evaluated as scenarios aimed at mitigating the environmental impacts of the biscuit and glost firing stages, which have been identified as environmental hotspots in the manufacturing of both products. This approach supports sustainable decision-making in the manufacturing process and contributes to the development of less environmentally impacted ceramic products.
Geethani et al. (Thu,) studied this question.