CEMCON · CEMCON (Cement from concrete) – A circular solution for recycled concrete fines into supplementary cementitious material

EU has set an ambitious goal of achieving a circular economy following the “2050 climate neutrality goal” of the European Green Deal. The construction industry faces significant challenges to meet this in managing concrete waste, which often ends up in landfills. This proposal aims to address this issue by developing a circular solution for recycled concrete fines (RCFs) to be used as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), thereby converting these fine concrete wastes into cement (CEMCON). The main objectives are to characterize and categorize RCFs from various recycling plants, develop a treatment method to activate different types of RCFs, and understand the performance and environmental impacts of these activated RCFs when used as SCMs. To achieve these objectives during this fellowship, I will systematically categorize RCFs based on their composition and reactivity, identifying a generic activation method to enhance their reactivity. Together with my supervisors, I will generate new knowledge by evaluating the performance of activated RCFs and analyzing their energy consumption, carbon footprint, and potential for circular economy integration through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The expected outcome is a revolutionary method for utilizing concrete waste in construction, significantly enhancing the reactivity of waste materials and paving the way for broader applications, including the treatment of other industrial wastes such as mining by-products. To implement the research findings into the world outside laboratory, this research will be scaled up to industrial production of RCFs as SCMs by operating a flagship plant in the Netherlands in collaboration with our associated partner C2CA. CEMCON project provides insights for construction sector on how to use concrete waste fines as cementitious materials. This helps contractors reduce material and project costs. Thus, CEMCON aligns with the EU's aim to promote the circular economy in the building sector.