Within the European Union (EU), the construction industry is responsible for close to 40% of total emissions and generates nearly a third of all waste. The traditional linear ‘take-make-dispose’ model leads to excessive landfill waste, pollution, and environmental degradation.
One ambitious, forward-thinking initiative funded by the Horizon Europe programme, ICARUS, transforms industrial waste into high-quality secondary raw materials (SRMs).
With 18 beneficiaries from Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands, ICARUS aims to make Europe the first digitally led climate-neutral economy through the transformation of its mobility, energy, construction, and production systems.
It aims to close the loop in construction, significantly cut down on waste, reduce environmental impact, and ensure materials meet the same standards as virgin resources.
By pioneering innovative recycling and upcycling techniques, ICARUS is proving that sustainability and high-performance construction can go hand in hand.
ICARUS has three key demonstration case studies that are excelling across Europe:
1. Leftover waste material, such as lithium aluminosilicate residue (LAR), can be turned into useful products like cement and concrete, road base, backfill, and ceramics. By improving how LAR is processed, the project ensures these materials are strong, long-lasting, and ready for use in construction. This reduces the need for new raw materials and gives industrial waste a second life in sustainable building.
2. New value in waste can be found from diapers and wastewater by recovering cellulose fibres that would normally be thrown away. These fibres are cleaned, processed, and reused in construction materials and other bio-based products.
By targeting both hygiene product waste and wastewater sludge, ICARUS is helping reduce landfill use and emissions. With the help of an AI-powered platform, this process can be made to be efficient and ensure high-quality results.
3. There is a huge opportunity for businesses in the built environment to turn steelmaking slag, usually treated as waste, into precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), a useful material for construction, ceramics, and even steel production.
This process replaces the need for virgin limestone and captures carbon dioxide, which helps to cut emissions. ICARUS is refining the method to produce high-quality PCC and exploring other ways to reuse slag, showing how industrial waste can support both circularity and climate goals.
