Irish Cement Bagged CEM II/A-L

The data quality level for the specific data is assessed according to the criteria of the UN Environment Global Guidance on LCA database development. See table below with results on the geographical, technical and time representativeness Geographical representativeness: Very good (data from area under study) Technical representativeness: Very good (data from processes and products under study. Same state of technology applied as defined in goal and scope.) Time representativeness: Very good (less than 3 years difference between the reference year according to documentation, and the time period for which data are representative. According to EN 15804, the cut-off criteria are 1% of renewable and non-renewable primary energy usage and 1% of the total mass input of that unit process. The total of neglected input flows per module, e.g. per module A1-A3, shall be a maximum of 5% of energy usage and mass. There were no cut-offs relating to primary energy usage. Cut-offs associated with total mass inputs included small quantities of ammonia water, explosives, ferrous sulphate, grinding aids, refractories and alternative raw materials. Cut offs totalled 1.1%.

The Central Product Classification (CPC) for cement is CPC 37440. Cement is a hydraulic binder i.e., a finely ground in-organic material which, when mixed with water, forms a paste which sets and hardens by means of hydration reactions and processes and which, after hardening, retains its strength and stability, even under water. Cement is mainly used as a binder for concrete, mortar or cement screed. Irish Cement Limited operate two cement manufacturing facilities in the Republic of Ireland. Irish Cement, Castlemungret, Co. Limerick, Irish Cement, Platin, Drogheda, Co. Louth Main product components Cement according to EN 197-1 is produced by grinding and mixing the constituents defined in the standard Constituents of cement as defined in EN 197-1 are: • main constituents (portland cement clinker and e.g. limestone) • minor additional constituents (added to improve the physical properties of the cement, such as workability • or water retention) • calcium sulfate (natural gypsum, added to control setting) • additives (the total quantity of additives shall not exceed 1% by mass of the cement) The main constituents of Bagged CEM II/A-L cement are clinker and limestone. The composition of Bagged CEM II/A-L cement as per EN 197 Table 1 is assumed for the LCA model: Portland cement clinker: 80-94% Limestone: 6-20% Gypsum: 3-5% Minor additional constituents: 0-5% The most important component of cement according to EN 197-1 is clinker. It is produced from raw materials such as limestone and clay which are crushed, homogenized and fed into a rotary kiln. The raw materials are sintered at a temperature of 1450°C to form new compounds. Clinker consists mainly of calcium, silica, aluminium and iron-oxides. In a second phase of manufacturing, calcium sulphates and additional materials are added to the clinker. All constituents are ground together leading to a fine and homogenous powder.