The most important ceramic subsector (in turnover) is the floor and wall ceramic tiles. According to European data, production is around 1304 million m 2 , consumption amounts to 964 million m 2 and total sales were close to €9

Emissions to the air Waste generation EPS (Environmental Priority Strategies in product design) Environmental Theme method Ecological Scarcity method Cradle to grave The covering of one square meter of flooring during one year of operation Potting and Block, 1997 Cushion vinyl Woollen carpet PA carpet Linoleum CED (MJ) GWP (g CO2eq.) EP (g PO4 3eq.) AP (g SO2 eq.) POCP (g ethylene eq.) Waste (g hazardous and g nonhazardous) CED: From (1) and (2) GWP, EP, AP, POCP: from (3) 'The amount of floor covering of good quality which is needed to cover one m 2 of floor surface in a normal Dutch house over a period of 15 years'.

Purpose: Porcelain stoneware tile (PST) is currently the ceramic tile of greatest commercial and innovation interest. An environmental life cycle assessment of different varieties of PST was undertaken to enable hotspots to be identified, strategies to be defined, differences between PST varieties to be evaluated, and guidance for PST manufacturers to be provided in choosing the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) programme that best suited their needs according to grouping criteria. Methods: Analysis of previous information allowed three main parameters (thickness, glaze content, and mechanical treatment) to be identified in order to encompass all PST variations. Fifteen varieties of PST were thus studied. The coverage of 1 m2 of household floor surface with the different PST varieties for 50 years was defined as functional unit. The study sets out environmental data whose traceability was verified by independent third parties for obtaining 14 EPDs of PST under Spanish EPD programmes. Results and discussion: The study presents PST inventory analysis and environmental impact over the entire life cycle of the studied PST varieties. The natural gas consumed in the manufacturing stage accounted for more than 70 % Abiotic Depletionfossil fuels and Global Warming; electricity consumption accounted for more than 60 % Ozone Layer Depletion, while the electricity generated by the cogeneration systems avoided significant environmental impacts in the Spanish power grid mix. The variations in PST thickness, amount of glaze, and mechanical treatments were evaluated. The PST variety with the lowest environmental impact was the one with the lowest thickness, was unglazed, and had no mechanical treatments. Similarly, the PST variety with the highest environmental impact was the one with the greatest thickness, was glazed, and had been mechanically treated. Conclusions: The PST life cycle stage with the highest environmental impact was the

The Spanish tile manufacturing sector has grown steadily over the years covered by the three benchmark studies, carried out in 1992, 2001, and 2007, from which data are compared in this paper. In that period, production output doubled, although since the last study was published, the situation has undergone a radical change and current production output stands at a level similar to that of 1995. Nevertheless, despite the world economic crisis, which has also severely impacted the ceramic wall and floor tile sector, it is worth noting that the sector's environmental parameters have demonstrated a constant and positive trend, both in companies' individual environmental performance and in the actual manufacturing processes itself. To a large extent, this situation was forced upon the sector as it had to adapt to numerous environmental regulations, which in general terms call for harsher and more stringent conditions than before. In this sense, the adoption of IPPC regulations, which affect practically the entire ceramic tile sector, and the approval of EU Directive 2003/87 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading were significant factors.Keywords: Environmental Development, Environmental Benchmarking, Ceramic Tiles, Red/White Ceramics. Evolución ambiental del sector de la fabricación de baldosas cerámicas en el periodo 1992-2007El sector de fabricación de baldosas cerámicas ha crecido de forma continuada durante los años que abarcan los tres estudios cuyos datos son comparados en este informe, 1992-2001-2007, ya que la producción se ha duplicado desde el primer al último estudio, aunque si se considera el periodo del último estudio hasta la actualidad, la situación ha sufrido un cambio radical estando ahora mismo en niveles de producción similares al año 1995. No obstante, a pesar de esta crisis económica mundial en la que se ha visto arrastrado el sector cerámico, merece la pena destacar una constante evolución positiva en todos los aspectos relacionados con los temas medioambientales, tanto en aquellos aspectos relacionados con el comportamiento ambiental de las empresas como en los relacionados directamente con el propio proceso de fabricación. Esta situación en gran parte ha sido forzada por la adopción de numerosa normativa medioambiental, que en líneas generales ha supuesto un endurecimiento de la legislación existente. En este sentido merece la pena destacar la adopción de la normativa IPPC, normativa que afecta prácticamente a la totalidad del sector de baldosas cerámicas, y la aprobación de la Directiva 2003/87/CE, de comercio de derechos de emisión de gases de efecto invernadero.

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