Assessment of recycled metal fibres for concrete reinforcement
A manufacturer extracts metal fibres from end-of-life tires which can be reused to obtain fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) in line with the provisions of the Spanish Structural Code. This means that the fibres must be CE marked, but such recovered fibres fall outside the scope of harmonized standard EN 14889-1. ITeC has offered the manufacturer an alternative through a European Technical Assessment.
INBUILT project: innovative bio/geo-sourced, re-used and recycled construction products
INBUILT will develop and demonstrate 10 innovative products and systems, such as large-sized rammed earth blocks, recycled fired and non-fired bricks, hybrid straw-clay boards, recycled concrete (bulk and blocks), prefabricated waste wood wall elements, smart windows and curtain walls with recycled glass and bio-PUR frames, recycled textile and paper fibre insulation, bio-based recycled insulation and second life photovoltaic panels.
Re-Plan City Project to promote construction materials obtained from tire recycling
The Re-Plan City project wants to expand the use of RTM (Recycled Tire Materials) products and applications for transport infrastructure (roads and railways), buildings (reinforced concrete with steel fibers for floors, rubber pieces for noise reduction, insulating fibers), street furniture and sports facilities. ITeC has contributed by developing guidelines for green public tenders aimed at public developers that see in RTM products an opportunity to improve the environmental footprint of their projects.
Development of a European Evaluation Document (EAD) for innovative fibre boards
A European H2020 project is developing a new medium density fibreboard (MDF) free of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) using industrial cellulosic waste as raw material. A product of this nature is outside the scope of the harmonized standards that regulate MDF boards, so a specific evaluation procedure will be required in order to bring it to the market with the required CE mark.
Upgrade of ITeC’s database with Recycled Content Products
There is a demand for construction products that are manufactured from recycled materials, which often does not materialize in practice because they have not been explicitly specified in the project stage. To overcome this obstacle, ITeC's database of construction elements has been expanded to include a series of products in which recycled plastic, recycled rubber (from out of use tires), steel slag or recycled glass can be found in its composition. Each of them has its price, technical specs and environmental data, so prescribers can use them in the project as easily as the rest of the products of the database.
Life Cycle Analysis of recycled aggregates
The “cradle to gate” environmental impact of two recycled aggregates (gravel and graded aggregates) have been calculated according to ISO and UNE-EN reference standards and according to the PCR (Product Category Rules) applicable to construction aggregates.
Guide for increasing the share of recycled aggregate
Since 2020, the use of recycled aggregates in public and private construction projects in Catalonia must be at least 5% by weight of the total prescription of aggregates. This guide explains how to apply this rule, how to document it and how to justify the cases where the project specificities are incompatible with the aggregates derived from construction and demolition waste.
We Build Circular project: opportunities to increase circularity
Construction waste in a building or in an infrastructure can become a resource if the appropriate decisions have been made in the design stage. Taking the waste inventory calculated by ITeC’s TCQiGMA software as a starting point, it is possible to know how much circularity is being missed, comparing the waste management scenario as prescribed by the project team and the optimal scenario according to the Waste Agency of Catalonia.
Evaluation of concrete additions obtained from the incineration of municipal solid waste
Design of a protocol for assessing the validity of a type II addition manufactured with treated ashes from municipal waste incinerators. It allows to quantify the mechanical, chemical and durability performance that can be expected from different combinations of this addition with CEM II and CEM IV cements that produce concrete mixes as per the EN-206 standard, and also mortars and grouts.
Assessment of recycled rubber compounds for road surfacing
A manufacturer reuses end-of-life tires to produce a rubber powder compound that replaces part of the bitumen used in asphalt pavements. When it comes to the CE marking of the product, it is outside the scope of the harmonized standard EN 14023. ITeC has offered an alternative through the European Technical Assessment, starting with a European Assessment Document (EAD) with a testing protocol compatible with the nature of the material.
