Value-added recycled materials from construction and demolition waste

ongoing

The construction sector is the most resource intensive industrial sector in the EU; it uses around 50% of the available primary raw materials and generates over 33% of the total waste generated in Europe. Thus, there is huge potential for the recycling of secondary raw materials from construction and demolition waste (CDW), but closing the circular economy loop is far from becoming mainstream in Europe. For the time being, according with ANPAR Italian data, only 7% of the recycled CDW is re-used today to produce new concrete for structural and non-structural applications while the largest part of mineral CDW is downgraded to be used as stabilizer for road pavements, railways and other civil works (82%) or backfilling operations (11,5%). CDWCIRCLE has the ambitious goal of achieving total recycling of treated CDW thanks to a radical innovative sorting technology that allows to separate the inert fractions (aggregates, bricks, tiles, etc) and will enable the production of added-value secondary raw materials to be re-used in the construction sector. A new CDW recycling plant, able to treat up to 90.000 ton/year of CDW, will be designed and constructed by the partners Cavart and Binder, and installed in one of the authorized sites of Gatti Costruzioni company in the Brescia area. CDWCIRCLE will test its end-products in the pilot area of Brescia (Lombardy Region) together with a pool of construction companies (Gatti, Pavoni, Prandelli), supported by the University of Brescia and the regional authority (Regione Lombardia) CDWCIRCLE is proposing itself as an emblematic precedent in the national as well as European context. Following the testing phase, the partners will develop proper business models, supporting the supply chain of the new market niche and establishing ecosystem with stakeholders active in the field.