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Sustainable recycling in polyvalent use of energy saving building elements (LIFE in SustainaBuilding)
Start date: Aug 1, 2014, End date: Jan 31, 2017 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Background Heterogeneous glass-based waste is a growing problem in Europe. In 2008, 25.5 billion glass bottles and jars, and almost 11.5 million tonnes of glass packaging were collected in the EU27. Properly sorted glass waste can be re-melted to produce new glass products, or for use in secondary markets, including in the production of ceramics, insulation materials and concrete. However, 23-25% of waste glass still ends up in landfill sites, mainly because most current markets require relatively pure recycled glass. A challenge, therefore, is the fact that waste glass is often highly contaminated, such as that derived from glass-ceramics or ceramic materials. Another is that mixed glass waste cannot be easily separated by colour or other parameters. Recycling of this type of waste is often rejected as it is not suitable for the production of defect-free glass products. Current technology still does not allow for the effective end use of unsorted recovered glass. Available technologies are still considered as environmentally and economically unfeasible. New products and uses for waste glass are needed, which are not sensitive to contaminants in the glass or different colours in unsorted glass. Objectives The overall objective of the LIFE in SustainaBuilding project is to demonstrate an effective process for using various waste materials, including unsorted glass waste. It specifically aims to recycle this waste to produce innovative construction materials – such as bricks, panels, wall coverings, and internal and external flooring. The project plans to set up a demonstration production line for the valorisation of various waste materials that are currently sent to landfill. The process will use glass mixtures with a high percentage of waste materials, regardless of their colour or contamination level. These will include silica vitreous phases (dusts from steelworks and heterogeneous glass from different production sectors) and reactive blowing agents (carbonates, carbides or compounds containing carbon residue and food industry processing residues) or space holders (sodium chloride). The technology will entail the application of a low temperature reactive sintering production cycle at temperatures under 750 °C, to obtain material for the production of innovative construction materials for use in high-performance buildings, in terms of weight and thermal insulation. The innovative input mixture and low temperature sintering method will make it possible to obtain these high-performance products in a very short time - maximum 30 minutes - with significant energy savings. Expected results: Recycling of 3 m3 of waste per day (also contaminated with salts or ceramic materials); Reduction of unsorted glass waste sent to landfill; A new product consisting of at least 90% waste; A low temperature production cycle, ensuring a low embodied energy (about 5 MJ/kg) and an energy saving of about 30%; A low weight end product (apparent density of between 0.4 and 1.2 g/cm3); Low thermal conductivity of the product (between 0.16 and 0.21 W/m K); A product with a compressive strength that makes it suitable for structural applications with low loads (at least 2.7 MPa); The new product will be obtained in a very short time (max. 30 minutes); The new product will be much safer than rock fibre or glass fibre panels; The new product will be completely recyclable at the end of its life; It will be possible to stain the new product with natural colours or to have it superficially coloured, also with glazes.

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