Life cycle assessment of bio-based and synthetic epoxy resin mediated composite tiles: a comparative analysis based on agricultural and industrial waste filler

The use of biopolymeric resin-based composites as sustainable alternatives to synthetic resin-based composites is gaining traction. This study evaluates the life cycle environmental impacts of four composite tile formulations combining two waste fillers (wheat straw and marble dust) with two resins (synthetic epoxy and bio-epoxy). This study performs a comparative LCA by assuming wheat straw and marble dust as locally generated waste materials while synthetic epoxy and bio-epoxy are generated from fossil sources and bio-based sources, respectively. A life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was adopted to identify more environmentally sustainable options. The global warming impact was highest for wheat straw synthetic epoxy composites (73.9 kg CO2 eq./m2 of tiles) and lowest for marble dust bio-epoxy composites (52.6 kg CO2 eq./m2). Wheat straw bio-epoxy composites showed minimal impacts for fine particulate matter formation (0.00778 kg PM2.(5) eq./m2) and terrestrial acidification (0.248 kg SO2 eq./m2). Marble dust synthetic epoxy composites had the lowest freshwater eutrophication impact (0.028 kg P eq./m2). Overall, marble dust and bio-epoxy composites were the most sustainable option. Sensitivity analysis, accounting for +/- 20% variation in key parameters, highlighted that environmental impacts are most sensitive to process energy consumption, emphasizing the need for energy-efficient technologies.