Over the last years, novel technologies have been developed aiming to guarantee high quality of recycled materials for their use in new materials (specially recycled concretes), thereby closing the loop. However, some wastes... [ view full abstract ]
Over the last years, novel technologies have been developed aiming to guarantee high quality of recycled materials for their use in new materials (specially recycled concretes), thereby closing the loop. However, some wastes still faces technical barriers to be incorporated into new materials/products and consequently, they are often down-cycled. It is, for example, the case of fine recycled concrete fractions (0-4 mm), or the case of minor (e.g. glass) and emerging (e.g. mineral wool) C&DW materials that have not yet found technological and business solutions along with their whole circular supply chain, being mostly landfilled.
On the other hand, concrete is the most widely used material in building, with a growing trend towards prefabrication. The European precast concrete sector and its associated supply chain face diverse needs for improvement in resource efficiency (reduction in natural resource consumption, design for reuse, increase, lighter solutions, enhanced thermal performance etc.) leading to higher competitiveness.
To face these challenges, the main objective of the VEEP project (Horizon 2020) is to eco-design, develop and demonstrate a series of new cost-effective technological solutions for the massive retrofitting of our built environment, aiming at cost-effectively reducing building energy consumption. These new technological solutions will lead to novel closed-loop circular approaches for C&DW recycling into novel multilayer precast concrete elements PCEs (for both new buildings and refurbishment) incorporating new concretes as well as superinsulation material produced by using at least 75% (by weight) of C&DW recycled materials.
This main objective will be achieved through the goals:
Scientific &Technological objectives:
- To develop, upscale and optimize new advanced recycling technologies for the recovery of mineral resources (concrete, mineral wools and glass wastes);
- To eco-design and develop new green normal weight and light weight concrete recipes containing high levels (at least, 75% by weight) of upgraded C&DW recycled materials;
- To develop, upscale and optimize cost-effective sustainable aerogel composite;
- To eco-design, develop and characterize two novel cost-effective energy efficient PCEs.
Economic and Environmental objectives:
- To quantify and demonstrate the potential economic and environmental impact of the diverse VEEP solutions around a closed-loop approach;
- To determine exploitation action plans and to promote high replication of the VEEP solution at European level and worldwide.
Social and governance objectives:
- To increase awareness and involvement within the whole social chain (users, students, professionals, authorities and organizations) for those topics concerning efficient use of material building resources and energy efficiency;
- To formulate and channel policy recommendations to relevant authorities in order to influence the regulatory and legislative framework for rendering the introduction of the new practices smoother;
- To foster the creation of green jobs in the recycling industry.
CO2 savings, energy savings, and higher resource efficiency will ultimately contribute to a resource-efficient and climate change resilient economy.
Acknowledgements:
The VEEP project has been funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 under Grant Agreement n° 723582. The authors of the present paper - prepared in the framework of the VEEP project - wish to acknowledge the Commission for its support.
Lessons learnt from practical projects , New products, applications and machinery
