Application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to analyze the environmental loads of heavy machinery components

generates significant environmental burdens that cause global
warming and also negatively affect human health. This is caused by
the use of large amounts of energy by these machines, including the
amount of process heat, which generates negative environmental
changes. As part of sustainable development, it is necessary to look
for more friendly solutions, e.g., life cycle assessment (LCA).
Therefore, the objective was to analyse the main environmental loads
that arise during the extraction and processing of the component
materials used in mining machines. In this case, the subject of the
research was a reduction gear with a high utilisation rate in
excavators and forklifts used in mining. The environmental impact
criteria taken into account in the analysis were ozone depletion,
human toxicity, and eutrophication. The analysis was carried out
using the OpenLCA programme with the ecoinvent database. The
results of the analysis showed that in the extraction and processing
phase of the reduction gear materials, the main environmental loads
arise for selected criteria arise, among others: during coke
production, oil and gas extraction, natural gas transport, and hard coal
exploitation. The results of the analysis may contribute to the
sustainable development of machines in the mining industry and may
be useful in the production of new mining machines in order to
eliminate their negative impact throughout their life cycle.