TiO₂ manufacture and life cycle analysis

Titanium dioxide pigments have been produced commercially for eight decades. The industry has seen many developments from the humble beginnings with uncoated, impure, anatase pigments to the highly refined TiO₂ pigments of today. For the past four decades there have been two commercial routes for making TiO₂ pigments ‐ sulphate and chloride. In recent years, significant efforts have been made to produce TiO₂ by both routes with greater environmental awareness. To compare the overall impact of TiO₂ manufacturing processes on the environment, life‐cycle assessments of several process options are described in this paper.