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General comment Data quality:
Product Stage (A1–A3)
Raw material quantities, transport distances, manufacturing energy use, and waste generation data were provided by the manufacturer for both production routes.
Two manufacturing routes were modelled:
- Silloth: on-site batching, concrete production, casting, prestressing, curing, and finishing.
-Manchester: off-site ready-mix concrete supply combined with casting, prestressing, curing, and finishing.
Concrete production was modelled using ready-mix and batching datasets consistent with strength class C40/50. Prestressing steel was modelled using low-alloy steel datasets representing typical UK supply.
Transport of raw materials and ready-mix concrete was modelled using average distances provided by the manufacturer. Manufacturing energy consumption and fuel use were allocated to the declared unit based on mass share of production.
Concrete breakages and manufacturing rejects generated during production, where not recovered, are crushed on site and reused within the manufacturing facility or sold as secondary material. As no concrete production waste is disposed of as waste, no concrete waste treatment or disposal is modelled in Module A3. Only the energy and fuel use associated with normal manufacturing operations are included as well as mixed waste generated on site from ancillary materials and packaging.
Geographical representativeness:
Manufacturing of the declared product takes place in the United Kingdom, at the Silloth and Manchester facilities. Where available, background datasets representative of the United Kingdom (GB) were applied. Where UK-specific datasets were not available, European (RER) datasets were used, followed by global (GLO) datasets where no European alternatives existed.
Raw materials, transport distances, and energy carriers are considered representative of typical UK supply chains. Geographical representativeness is therefore considered to be Good.
Technical representativeness:
Primary foreground data were obtained directly from the manufacturer and include:
Concrete mix compositions, ready-mix delivery data, transport distances, fuel consumption, waste contractor records, and electricity and water consumption.
Concrete was modelled using appropriate strength-class proxies from ecoinvent. Prestressing steel, fuels, packaging materials, and transport processes were modelled using representative ecoinvent datasets selected to reflect the closest available technological match. These include diesel burned as a proxy for kerosene where no data for kerosene was available, organic chemicals for unspecified admixture, organic solvent for Polysolve, and lubricating oil for mould oil.
Two manufacturing scenarios were modelled independently and subsequently combined using production-weighted averaging. This approach captures the variability introduced by logistics-driven production routing and provides a realistic representation of market supply.
Technical representativeness is therefore considered to be Good.
Time representativeness:
Foreground manufacturing and logistics data were collected for a representative 12-month reporting period from 2024 into 2025. Background life cycle inventory data were sourced from ecoinvent v3.10 (2023).
For some background datasets, the reference year may differ slightly from the foreground data period; however, all datasets are considered representative of current production technologies. Time representativeness is therefore considered to be Very Good.
Database used: ecoinvent v3.10 (cut-off system model, 2023)
LCA tool used: OpenLCA 2.5.0 with assessor-developed calculation spreadsheets
Allocation:
No co-products are generated during the manufacturing process. Concrete breakages are treated as recovered material and are not considered co-products; associated benefits are accounted for in Module D in accordance with EN 15804.
Manufacturing energy use, fuel consumption, and waste generation data were collected as annual site totals for both manufacturing facilities. These flows were allocated to the declared product based on the proportion of total annual production represented by the 150 mm T-beam, using a mass-based allocation approach. This allocation method reflects the proportional relationship between production throughput and resource use and is consistent with EN 15804 requirements and EPD Ireland PCR guidance.
For the purpose of this declaration, environmental impacts were first calculated independently for each manufacturing route. Results were subsequently combined using a production-weighted (mass-based) averaging approach based on the relative annual output of each site. This Environmental Product Declaration therefore represents a production-weighted average across two manufacturing routes, reflecting typical product supply conditions. The selection of manufacturing route for individual orders is primarily governed by logistics, production capacity, and material availability rather than fixed product specifications; consequently, no single production route can be considered fully representative of long-term market supply. The weighted-average modelling approach provides the most accurate and transparent representation of the average environmental performance of the declared product, consistent with the intent of EN 15804 and EPD Ireland PCR.
Cut-off criteria:
The study follows the cut-off rules defined in EN 15804:2012+A2:2019. All relevant material and energy inputs and waste flows for which data were available have been included in the life cycle inventory.
Capital goods and long-life reusable equipment (including reusable moulds, rubber formers, timber bearers, and lifting equipment) are excluded from the system boundary. Ancillary materials with very low replacement frequency and negligible contribution to overall environmental impacts are excluded where their contribution is expected to fall below EN 15804 cut-off thresholds. Ancillary materials included consist of lifting hooks, polystyrene formers, Polysolve, welding rods, and cutting discs.
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