166 KEYWORDS Quarrying, Aggregates Production, Life Cycle Assessment, Direct Air Emissions, Environmental Impacts, Decarbonization. INTRODUCTION Aggregates, such as crushed rock, sand, and gravel, are crucial for the development of modern infrastructure, including roads, bridges, railways, and commercial and residential buildings (UEPG, 2023b). Within the European Union (EU), in 2023, approximately 3 billion tonnes of aggregates were produced, of which 1.05 billion tonnes were crushed rock (UEPG, 2023a). Production of crushed rock aggregates usually involves operations such as rock material extraction (i.e., drilling and blasting, and excavation) from a quarry pit, material handling (i.e., loading, transport, storage, and feeding), and production processes at the crushing plant (size reduction and classification processes). This common segment of operations is used at both quarrying and mining sites to produce aggregates and minerals, respectively. Currently, these operations are designed primarily for economic viability, with limited focus on environmental viability. On the other hand, these operations consume resources (i.e., materials and energy) and generate waste (hazardous and non-hazardous). This leads to the emission of pollutants into the air, water, and soil, affecting the environment. Several studies have quantified the emissions and the resulting environmental impacts from aggregates production. For example, a study by Stripple (2001) quantified Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions originating from the cradle-to-gate aggregate production system boundary (which includes operations such as rock material extraction, material handling, and production processes). For instance, CO2 and CH4 emissions were estimated at 1.42 kg and 3.82E-03 kg per tonne of aggregates (Stripple, 2001). Several studies have addressed the environmental impacts of GHG emissions. For instance, a study by Rosado et al. (2017) used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify the cradle-to-gate impact of GHG emissions at 2.01 kg CO2eq per tonne of aggregates produced from a Brazilian quarry. Furthermore, their study identified that the majority of the impact was attributed to blasting. A study by MartinezArguelles et al. (2019) estimated the cradle-to-gate impact of producing 1 tonne of aggregates from a quarry in the northern region of Colombia to be 35.58 kg CO2eq and highlighted that diesel consumption was the major contributor. Another study by de Bortoli (2023) conducted an LCA of multiple Canadian quarries and found explosives and diesel consumption to be the primary impact drivers. From the literature, it can be inferred that the predominant source of CO2 emissions and environmental impact often depends on site characteristics. In addition to CO2 emissions and their impact, dust emissions, especially diffused dust, including Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and Particulate Matter (PM), remain one of the most important issues in aggregates production (Sirina-Leboine et al., 2025). This is further corroborated by existing literature; for example, a literature review conducted by Lee et al. (2024) to identify relevant environmental impacts associated with quarries revealed that dust emissions were among the primary topics of focus within the studies considered for the review. Furthermore, within the EU's entire extractive sector, the fine PM emissions (<2.5 µm) mostly originate from the quarrying and mining operations (European Environment Agency, 2025).
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