Construction and demolition waste as a resource for sustainable, very lowenergy buildings

The framework of the research presented in the paper is a project oriented to promote the use of construction and demolition waste (CDW) as a new resource for constructing sustainable and very low-energy buildings. Intensive research activities have been carried out in application of recycled concrete and recycled brick as a replacement of...

Putting recycled concrete into practice in Belgium: From case studies over chain management to standards and quality assurance

Although there has been extensive research and several demonstration projects in Belgium and abroad, the use of recycled aggregates in concrete is still limited in practice. Several barriers were identified: lack of practical experience, limiting standards and the need for specific quality assurance. The paper describes recent developments in...

Environmental impact of concrete with recycled aggregates an evaluation through 4 case studies

The use of recycled aggregates in new structural concrete is generally considered as a measure for lowering the environmental impact of concrete. Existing literature considers transport distances and the final performance of the concrete (linked to its composition) as main influencing factors to evaluate the environmental burdens or gains when...

Use of concrete recycled aggregates as a raw material in lightweight mortar fabrication

Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) raises an environmental problem due both to the lack of prevention in their production process and little use of recycled material. In order to improve this situation, over the last years the new legislation on the CDW has entered into force, fostering the recovery of waste at its end-of-life and...

Assessment of the contaminants level in recycled aggregates and alternative new technologies for contaminants recognition and removal

One of the main challenging problems associated with the use of Recycled Aggregates (RA) is the level of mixed contaminants. For utilizing RA in high-grade applications, it is essential to monitor and minimise the content of the pollutants. To this extent the C2CA concrete recycling process investigates a combination of smart demolition,...

An experimental study on the recovery of the hardened cement from crushed end of life concrete

In the C2CA concrete recycling process, autogenous milling of the crushed End of Life (EOL) concrete is a mechanical method to remove cement paste from the surface of aggregates. During autogenous milling, the combination of shearing and compression forces, promotes selective attrition and delivers a better liberation. In order to investigate...