Open-Source LCA Workflow Matches Commercial Software for Bauxite Residue Climate Screening

Researchers showed that an open-source life cycle assessment workflow can produce screening-level climate results for vitrified bauxite residue (VBR) that match commercial software within about five percent. The study, published in Discover Green Chemistry, used openLCA, Brightway Python, and the free ELCD 3.2 database to estimate a global warming potential of 0.497 kg CO2e per kg of VBR, close to the 0.472 kg from a benchmark industrial model built with proprietary tools. VBR is a glassy material made by melting bauxite residue, the caustic waste from alumina refining, and could replace fly ash as a supplementary cementitious material in concrete. The open workflow matters because proprietary LCA software and background databases are too expensive for many startups and public labs. The authors published all data and scripts on GitHub so others can adapt the method to similar high-temperature waste-derived materials. Sensitivity testing showed the electricity mix drives results: GWP ranged from 0.19 kg CO2e per kg on Norway's hydropower grid to 0.81 on Poland's coal-heavy grid. Non-climate categories like ecotoxicity and land use were less reliable due to gaps in the ELCD database, so the method is best for early climate screening, not full environmental certification.