Industry experts will be offering advice on how to effectively recycle materials at the
The event is intended to help European materials producers deal with the implications of newly established guidelines as set by the Circular Economy bundle of EU directives and frameworks. The industry experts at CDES will be outlining the practical benefits of the circular economy principles.
Day one of the event will cover the ‘all you need to know’ facts to allow materials producers to visualise the best way to turn their recycling waste into a valuable concrete product that is just as strong and versatile as a natural-sand-made concrete.
Day two will be ‘proof of the pudding’ day when participants will be taken to The Sheehan Group quarry site in nearby Oxfordshire to witness the circular economy business model in action.
Materials producers face a dilemma in that, although concrete is the most commonly used commodity in the world after water, demand for concrete products rises as the availability of raw materials steadily decreases. The CDES event organisers say the answer can only lie in making the most of every available nugget of material that would have previously been shipped out to landfill without a second thought. They add that the method to achieve this, although it has been framed into European law, tends to remain unclear at national level as implementation rules vary.
Prof. Marios Soutsos, author of 100 technical publications and of Concrete Durability: A Practical Guide to the Design of Durable Concrete Structures, who has witnessed sustainable building solutions around the world and specialises in durable concrete products, will offer practical guidance on the dynamics of the production of recycled concrete.
Marjorie Petitpain of Cerib (Precast Concrete Industry Study & Research Centre), who holds a PhD in Civil Engineering, will bring practical advice based on her years of experience in the field of environmental precast concretes and low carbon concrete, with a focus on obtaining concretes from recycled materials with similar characteristics (mechanical, durability) to concrete from natural material, while greatly reducing the environmental footprint.
CDES is being supported by a number of partner organisations: AF Gruppen, CDE, The Sheehan Group, SINTEF and Queen’s University Belfast.
