Life-cycle Environmental Impact Assessment of Copper Beneficiation Processes

DOI: 10.5176/2251-189X_SEES19.64

Authors: Shahjadi Hisan Farjana, Nazmul Huda and M. A. Parvez Mahmud

Abstract: This paper analyses the life cycle environmental impacts of copper beneficiation processes among different regions of the world. The analysis is done here using SimaPro software version 8.5 using the ILCD method and CED method. This paper compares among the seven regions or countries which are dominant in copper mining and processing: global, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, North America, Europe, Indonesia, and Sweden. The analysis results indicate that copper beneficiation has the highest impact on human health (non-cancer effects), human health (noncancer effects), and freshwater eutrophication. The results also indicate that copper processing in Asia and the Pacific region has the most detrimental process towards sustainability.

Keywords: copper, mining, beneficiation, life cycle assessment, sustainability.