The project includes input from LafargeHolcim subsidiary Geocycle and the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).
The ERDC is to provide technical assistance and $3.4 million to conduct a waste characterisation study. It will also develop a basic research programme to demonstrate how C&D debris from across US military installations may be used to create alternative raw materials for the production of more sustainable construction materials.
Sophie Wu, director at Geocycle North America, says: “In 2018, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that approximately 600 million tonnes of construction and demolition debris was generated in the United States, which is more than twice the amount of generated municipal solid waste. The partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers will help us better understand this material and see how we can create a circular economy programme leading to a zero-waste future.”
This research will utilise resources at Geocycle’s Holly Hill Research Center in South Carolina and Holcim's Global Innovation Center in Lyon, France.
Stephen Cosper, an environmental engineer and project manager at ERDC, says: “We expect this partnership to lead to waste reduction opportunities at Army installations.”
Initially, the research team will conduct a waste characterisation study at military installations facing significant construction and demolition debris. Construction materials will then be evaluated for possible co-processing opportunities, including mineral reuse, and mineral recovery.
LafargeHolcim says information obtained from this research will help the USACE identify ways to reduce waste, increase its circular economy and avoid landfill costs and associated emissions.
The agreement is supported by funds appropriated to the Department of Defense, and the Army Corps of Engineers’ research organisation, the Engineer Research and Development Center.
