Environmental impacts of a red ceramics industry in Barcelona/RN

Environmental preservation has been one of the most discussed issues in recent decades, as the rate of pollution has increased. In view of this observation, this study seeks to assess the environmental impacts caused by a ceramics industry in the city of Barcelona, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. In order to do this, it was necessary to diagnose the situation of the enterprise being researched, with the aim of identifying and measuring the potential and actual environmental impacts caused throughout the process, extraction and production of the final product. In order to carry out this research, an exploratory case study was carried out on the company analysed. The data was assessed quantitatively using the Leopold Matrix, defining the positive and negative impacts of the entire production process in the ceramics industry. Presented in a didactic manner, this work refers to the monograph developed by the first author, covering technical-scientific explanations in the context of an exploratory survey.