The European Refractories Producers Federation (PRE), member of Cerame-Unie, is pleased to present the results of its first product carbon footprint exercise. The outcome is based on data collected from 40 individual sites, representing over 40% of the total annual turnover represented by the PRE membership. This exercise is a gate-to-gate exercise, focusing on the different refractory product production stages.The product carbon footprint was calculated for five product groups. The official press release lists all results.

The results documented in the report show that the product carbon footprint shows a direct correlation with the energy intensity, which in turn is mainly depending on the kiln load. At the same time, the exercise also demonstrated the significant impact of environmental requirements, such as mandatory post process combustion of waste gas, which can increase energy intensity by up to 30%.

The UK consultancy Carbon Trust supported the development of this report. This important exercise increases general knowledge of the European refractories industry and helps to analyse their individual environmental positions. It will also support PRE members in their communication with refractory-using industries and help these industries in turn to calculate a more accurate carbon footprint for their products. In this respect, it is important to notice that the specific resource consumption of European refractory products is very low, with only 10 kg of refractories required per tonne of steel.