Environmental improvement of lead refining: a case study of water footprint assessment in Jiangxi Province, China

PurposeChina is currently facing water scarcity due to its large national population and rapid economic development. Lead is a typical non-ferrous metal. The lead industry is one of the top 10 water-consuming industries in China and suffers from the heavy burden of properly managing discharged wastewater containing heavy metals and organic pollutants. Accordingly, a water footprint analysis of lead refining was conducted in this study to enhance the water management in China's lead industry. This study is part 2 of the environmental improvement for lead-refining series.MethodsIn accordance with the ISO 14046 standard, life cycle assessment-based water footprint analysis was applied to a lead-refining enterprise in Jiangxi Province, China. Five midpoint (i.e., water scarcity, aquatic eutrophication, carcinogens, non-carcinogens, and freshwater ecotoxicity) and two endpoint (i.e., human health and ecosystem quality) indicators are utilized to assess the water footprint impact results.Results and discussionDirect pollutant emissions are a major contributor to ecosystem quality and freshwater ecotoxicity, whereas indirect processes (i.e., industrial hazardous waste landfill, transport, and chemicals) contribute considerably to human health, aquatic eutrophication, and carcinogen categories. Chromium, copper, arsenic, and zinc were the key substances in the lead production chain, and their emissions exerted a significant impact on human health and ecosystem quality.ConclusionsReducing direct copper emission was the most important key to minimizing ecosystem quality decline in China's lead industry, and optimizing indirect processes was effective in mitigating the impact on human health. Enhancing wastewater treatment, increasing chemical consumption efficiency, optimizing transport and industrial hazardous waste disposal, improving supervision, issuing relevant governmental regulations, and adopting advanced wastewater treatment technologies are urgently needed to control the water footprint.