scholarly journals Promotion of Circular Economy: Steelwork Dusts as Secondary Raw Material in Conventional Mortars

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (20) ◽  
pp. 1313
Author(s):  
Angélica Lozano-Lunar ◽  
Auxi Barbudo ◽  
José María Fernández ◽  
José Ramón Jiménez

Among the actions proposed by the European Union for the implementation of Circular Economy is the use of waste as a secondary raw material (SRM). During the fusion of the scrap, a steel dust is generated, named Electric Arc Furnace Dust (EAFD). The EAFD is composed mainly of potentially leachable heavy metals, so is classified as “hazardous” waste. Around the world, approximately 70% of this waste is deposited in landfills, with a previous treatment through cement-based materials to prevent the metals’ mobility. However, this action is not in accordance with the Circular Economy concept due to the greater use of resources and the loss of deposited metals. The present investigation analyses the use of EAFD as SRM in conventional mortar production for its use as a construction material. Different substitution percentages (25%, 50% and 100%) were used replacing siliceous filler by EAFD. The investigation analysed the behaviour of conventional mortars by tests of workability, compressive strength, water absorption by capillarity and leaching behaviour in granular and monolithic state. The results obtained indicate a slight improvement in mechanical behaviour with the incorporation of EAFD, the reason why its use as SRM in conventional mortars would benefit the construction industry and would encourage the Circular Economy. From an environmental point of view, the mechanisms of Pb fixation should be improved in granular state.

Author(s):  
Leonidas Milios

AbstractThe transition to a circular economy is a complex process requiring wide multi-level and multi-stakeholder engagement and can be facilitated by appropriate policy interventions. Taking stock of the importance of a well-balanced policy mix that includes a variety of complementing policy instruments, the circular economy action plan of the European Union (COM(2020) 98 final) includes a section about “getting the economics right” in which it encourages the application of economic instruments. This contribution presents a comprehensive taxation framework, applied across the life cycle of products. The framework includes (1) a raw material resource tax, (2) reuse/repair tax relief, and (3) a waste hierarchy tax at the end of life of products. The research is based on a mixed method approach, using different sources to analyse the different measures in the framework. More mature concepts, such as material resource taxes, are analysed by reviewing the existing literature. The analysis of tax relief on repairs is based on interviews with stakeholders in Sweden, where this economic policy instrument has been implemented since 2017. Finally, for the waste hierarchy tax, which is a novel proposition in this contribution, macroeconomic modelling is used to analyse potential impacts of future implementation. In all cases, several implementation challenges are identified, and potential solutions are discussed according to literature and empirical sources. Further research is required both at the individual instrument and at the framework level. Each of the tax proposals needs a more detailed examination for its specificities of implementation, following the results of this study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7572
Author(s):  
Gigliola D’Angelo ◽  
Marina Fumo ◽  
Mercedes del Rio Merino ◽  
Ilaria Capasso ◽  
Assunta Campanile ◽  
...  

Demolition activity plays an important role in the total energy consumption of the construction industry in the European Union. The indiscriminate use of non-renewable raw materials, energy consumption, and unsustainable design has led to a redefinition of the criteria to ensure environmental protection. This article introduces an experimental plan that determines the viability of a new type of construction material, obtained from crushed brick waste, to be introduced into the construction market. The potential of crushed brick waste as a raw material in the production of building precast products, obtained by curing a geopolymeric blend at 60 °C for 3 days, has been exploited. Geopolymers represent an important alternative in reducing emissions and energy consumption, whilst, at the same time, achieving a considerable mechanical performance. The results obtained from this study show that the geopolymers produced from crushed brick were characterized by good properties in terms of open porosity, water absorption, mechanical strength, and surface resistance values when compared to building materials produced using traditional technologies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 01006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Břetislav Teplý ◽  
Tomáš Vymazal ◽  
Pavla Rovnaníková

Efficient sustainability management requires the use of tools which allow material, technological and construction variants to be quantified, measured or compared. These tools can be used as a powerful marketing aid and as support for the transition to “circular economy”. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) procedures are also used, aside from other approaches. LCA is a method that evaluates the life cycle of a structure from the point of view of its impact on the environment. Consideration is given also to energy and raw material costs, as well as to environmental impact throughout the life cycle - e.g. due to emissions. The paper focuses on the quantification of sustainability connected with the use of various types of concrete with regard to their resistance to degradation. Sustainability coefficients are determined using information regarding service life and "eco-costs". The aim is to propose a suitable methodology which can simplify decision-making in the design and choice of concrete mixes from a wider perspective, i.e. not only with regard to load-bearing capacity or durability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 272 ◽  
pp. 273-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Břetislav Teplý ◽  
Tomáš Vymazal ◽  
Pavla Rovnaníková

Efficient sustainability management requires the use of tools that enable the quantification, measurement or comparison of material, technological and construction variants. Tools of this kind which have been developed around the world in recent years include various indicators, indexes, etc. Generally, technical, economic, ecological and socio-cultural areas must all be included. Such a tool can be used as a powerful marketing aid and as support for the transition to the “circular economy”. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) procedures are also used, alongside other approaches. LCA is a method that evaluates the life cycle of a structure from the point of view of its effect on the environment. Processes starting with the mining of mineral resources and including their transport, production and use up to their final processing as waste (recycling) are all taken into account. In addition, consideration is given to energy and raw material costs, and to environmental impact throughout the whole life cycle – e.g. through emissions. The presented contribution focuses on the quantification of sustainability connected with the use of various types of concrete with regard to their resistance against the effect of degrading influences. Sustainability factors are also determined using information regarding service life and “eco-costs”. The aim is to present a suitable methodology which can simplify decision-making concerning the design and choice of concrete mixes from a wider perspective, i.e. not only from the aspects of load-bearing capacity or durability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Monisha Ravi ◽  
Balasubramanian Murugesan ◽  
Arul Jeyakumar ◽  
Kiranmayi Raparthi

Abstract This research mainly concentrates on eco-friendly construction material. Production of cement and concrete industries release huge amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases which affect the environment and also there is a demand in construction material by man-made or nature. The construction sector finds an economic and eco-friendly cement replacement material to achieve the demand for green concrete that improve the energy conservation and better energy saving material. In marine Bio-refinery waste produce huge quantity of calcium carbonate, whose disposal is cause of major concern. Pre-eminent solution for this problem is utilizing the marine shell waste in cement and concrete. It revises the manufacturing process to reduce the raw material usage in production and adoptable material for global warming. Therefore, the researchers focus on marine waste sea shells as the replacement material in construction industry to save the energy and also give sustainable green material. As per the previous studies by the researchers to determine the chemical composition, specific gravity, water absorption, particle size distribution of seashells and also compressive, flexural and tensile strength of concrete. It shows the seashell is filler material that slightly increases the strength when compared to the conventional materials and therefore the sea shells are suitable for the construction field to manufacture the cement and concrete with eco-friendly manner.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 9226-9230

Due to Modernization and urbanization constructing industries are fast growing also it leading to high demand of constructing materials because of expensive prices, and for the construction industry, usage of steel is currently limited heavily Many studies have been carried out to identify highly available, low cost innovative material to use in construction industry as a solution to meet the ever increasing demand for raw material. Bamboo was used as a construction material as a coarse aggregate, steel reinforcement. Bamboo has a higher compressive strength than wood, brick, or concrete and a tensile strength that rivals steel. water absorption in bamboo was the main problem used for construction .because The durability of the concrete is largely affected by absorption of water. Also poly ethylene bags are widely used in the country and its disposal after use causes more problems ,Mismanaged waste of polyethylene bags is the current threatening to the environment this waste is largely availbe its abundant high resistance to insects, fungi, animals, as well as molds, mildew, rot and many chemicals. In this study cubic bamboo was used as a coarse aggregate and it was coated with the waste LDPE bag melt ,as one of the coating material and other one is neem oil.and it was investigated to find the water absorption and turbidity, antifungal activity and compressive strength some other parameters in bamboo material with coatings it was observed that compared to untreated bamboo the polyethylenene coated bamboo material shows reduction in water absorption level and turbity.


Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Avolio ◽  
Francesco Spina ◽  
Gennaro Gentile ◽  
Mariacristina Cocca ◽  
Maurizio Avella ◽  
...  

In the frame of a circular economy, the maximization of secondary raw-material recovery is necessary to increase the economic and environmental sustainability of landfill mining and reclamation activities. In this paper, the polyethylene-rich plastic fraction recovered from the reclamation of an abandoned industrial landfill (landfill-recovered plastic, LRP) has been characterized through spectroscopic, thermal, morphological, and mechanical analyses. Then, an economically viable valorization and recycling strategy was set up. The effectiveness of this strategy in the enhancement of LRP properties has been demonstrated through morphological and mechanical characterizations.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 2845 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Eugenia Parron-Rubio ◽  
Francisca Perez-Garcia ◽  
Antonio Gonzalez-Herrera ◽  
Miguel José Oliveira ◽  
Maria Dolores Rubio-Cintas

A circular economy is a current tenet that must be implemented in the field of construction. That would imply the study of the possibilities of the use of waste generated, for obtaining materials the used in construction as replacements for the raw material used. One of these possibilities is the substitution of the cement by slag, which contributes to the reduction of cement consumption, decreasing CO2 emissions, while solving a waste management problem. In the present paper, different types of concrete made by cement substitution with different type of slags have been studied in order to evaluate the properties of these materials. Cement is replaced by slag from different steel mills, both blast furnace and ladle furnace slag. The percentages of slag substitution by cement are 30%, 40% and 50% by weight. Mechanical, physical and environmental properties have been evaluated. Compressive and flexural strength have been analysed as the main mechanical properties. As far as physical properties go, density and porosity tests were be reported and analysed, and from an environmental point of view, a leachate study was performed. It has been found that some kinds of slag (blast furnace slag) are very suitable as substitutes for cement, providing properties above those of the reference concrete, while other types (ladle furnace slag) could be valid for non-structural applications, contributing in both cases to a circular economy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iva Kovacic ◽  
Meliha Honic ◽  
Marijana Sreckovic

The construction industry is one of the world´s largest consumers of resources (sand, building materials) and produces significant amounts of waste. Simultaneously it is one of the least digitalized industries. With increasing levels of urbanization, scarceness of resources and lack of landfills, the policy of circular economy (CE) is becoming increasingly important in the construction industry. The European Union is obliging material recovery of construction and demolition waste to a minimum of 70% by weight by 2020 for all new construction projects. Simultaneously, digitalization in construction is one of the major goals in the EU digitalization action plan. We thereby hypothesize that digital technologies have significant potential to support CE in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) in multiple ways – for assessment of resources as well as for the prediction and optimization of upcoming waste and recycling masses. Based on our conducted and ongoing research projects - BIMaterial: Process-Design for a BIM-based Material Passport; SCI_BIM: Scanning and data capturing for the Integrated Resources and Energy Assessment using Building Information Modeling; and finally a Case Study reviewing digital tools and processes within a large design and planning company (DPC) - we assess to which degree and to what purpose digital technologies are used, and define the potentials and challenges for the realization of CE objectives in the construction industry. Based on the conducted assessment, we propose a framework for a Digital Platform for Circular Economy (DEEP), integrating various stakeholders and data repositories on the external (inter)-firm and internal (intra)-firm level, using open interfaces. Such a platform for the AEC aims to optimize the use of resources in the circular economy – from cradle to grave, foster mutual learning and coordination, and finally generate added value along the life cycle of a building project.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Angelina Pavlović ◽  
Goran Bošković ◽  
Nebojša Jovičić ◽  
Snežana Nestić ◽  
Natalia Sliusar ◽  
...  

The circular economy (CE) is currently a worldwide popular concept that should ensure sustainable development and resource efficiency. It is established on the theory of consumption and use of resources in the process of production in a way that affects a limitation of adverse effects on the environment. Simultaneously, this concept creates additional value and reuse of the products. In the Republic of Serbia (RS), the idea of CE is still new and underdeveloped. Hence, this paper aims to explore the possibility of implementing a CE in companies that operate in the RS by adopting the already developed methodology in the European Union. This research was conducted by monitoring the production process in the company "MB INTERNACIONAL" that produced cardboard packaging. The obtained approximate value of Circular Indicator of this company was 0.47, which indicated that the company had excellent chances for full implementation of the CE model in the business with the application of specific measures. The low-budget and highbudget measures, which could improve the circularity level in the analyzed company, are also presented in the research.


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