Project description
Turning concrete waste into sustainable cement
The construction industry faces challenges in managing concrete waste, which often ends up in landfill. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CEMCON project is developing a circular solution by turning recycled concrete fines (RCFs) into supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). This approach would transform concrete waste into a valuable resource for new cement production. The project will analyse and classify RCFs from different recycling plants, develop techniques to activate various types of RCFs, and evaluate their performance and environmental impact as SCMs. It will categorise RCFs based on their composition and reactivity, assessing their performance with an emphasis on energy use, carbon footprint, and circular economy potential through Life Cycle Assessment.
Objective
EU has set an ambitious goal of achieving a circular economy following the “2050 climate neutrality goal” of the European Green Deal. The construction industry faces significant challenges to meet this in managing concrete waste, which often ends up in landfills. This proposal aims to address this issue by developing a circular solution for recycled concrete fines (RCFs) to be used as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), thereby converting these fine concrete wastes into cement (CEMCON). The main objectives are to characterize and categorize RCFs from various recycling plants, develop a treatment method to activate different types of RCFs, and understand the performance and environmental impacts of these activated RCFs when used as SCMs. To achieve these objectives during this fellowship, I will systematically categorize RCFs based on their composition and reactivity, identifying a generic activation method to enhance their reactivity. Together with my supervisors, I will generate new knowledge by evaluating the performance of activated RCFs and analyzing their energy consumption, carbon footprint, and potential for circular economy integration through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The expected outcome is a revolutionary method for utilizing concrete waste in construction, significantly enhancing the reactivity of waste materials and paving the way for broader applications, including the treatment of other industrial wastes such as mining by-products. To implement the research findings into the world outside laboratory, this research will be scaled up to industrial production of RCFs as SCMs by operating a flagship plant in the Netherlands in collaboration with our associated partner C2CA. CEMCON project provides insights for construction sector on how to use concrete waste fines as cementitious materials. This helps contractors reduce material and project costs. Thus, CEMCON aligns with the EU's aim to promote the circular economy in the building sector.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
90014 Oulu
Finland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.