Mineral waste recycling for construction in Wallonia using LCA as an eco design tool

Today's global needs for mineral resources are on a continuous increase, resulting in an intensification of their extraction and environmental pollution. In Wallonia, those threats are shifting the industrial interests in the construction sector towards sustainability development plans based on reverse mineral industries. The main challenge of this study is the selection of local mineral wastes from deconstruction to obtain materials with equal or superior properties and minimal environmental impacts. Supported by research institutes, industries will conduct studies to spur the development of... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Riiashi Nadine
Bollen, Pierre
Pardoen, Thomas
Neirynck, Stéphane
Léonard Angélique
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe 33rd Annual Meeting
Dokumenttyp: conferenceObject
Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
Schlagwörter: LCA / mineral waste
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27291490
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/276386

Today's global needs for mineral resources are on a continuous increase, resulting in an intensification of their extraction and environmental pollution. In Wallonia, those threats are shifting the industrial interests in the construction sector towards sustainability development plans based on reverse mineral industries. The main challenge of this study is the selection of local mineral wastes from deconstruction to obtain materials with equal or superior properties and minimal environmental impacts. Supported by research institutes, industries will conduct studies to spur the development of new sectors and value chains, under the ‘REMIND’umbrella. Thus, a case-by-case characterization of waste will be carried along with Life Cycle Assessment as a decision-making tool to support the eco-design and the strategic alternative choices associated with targeted construction materials (insulating foams, concrete aggregates, self-compacting concrete materials, high-performance cement, and alternative binder materials for cement). An upscale approach will also be adapted to the potential market. The strategy including LCA expected to lead to new resource-saving and energy-saving technologies, as well as alternative opportunities that will turn into economic trends in Wallonia, will be presented. The LCA will be coupled to a rational material science approach in order to guide the optimization of the materials with respect to the constraints of the specific applications, involving the impact on environment as the objective to minimize. The idea of processing mineral wastes will make a circular economy in the region possible to implement, which will not only improve the efficiency of industries but also have a strong ecological, social, and economic effect in the future.