Life Cycle datasets of the Italian stone production chain

The ornamental stone production chain deeply changed in the ‘70s and in the following decades, when the mechanization of processes increased the production and the safety of workers. Nevertheless, the new techniques are also responsible of not negligible environmental impacts. This paper is focused on the currently most diffused techniques of extraction, cutting and polishing of the Italian stone sector (gneiss and marble). The study follows a Life Cycle Thinking approach and aims to make available detailed Life Cycle datasets on specific techniques of stone production. To this aim, primary data were collected in Italian quarries and transformation plants. The realization of the dataset related to the bridge cutting technique is presented. Some results on environmental impacts associated to this particular stone cutting technology show the most relevant flows in relation to different impact categories.