The Project

Currently, more than half of all materials extracted globally (over three billion tonnes/year in the EU only) are transformed for use in construction. The EU aims to reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector by recycling or re-using large amounts of these materials, thus reducing the consumption of raw materials and helping promote the sector’s economic stability. Construction and demolition waste (CDW) has been identified by the Commission as a priority waste stream due to the huge amounts generated (around 850 Mt/year) and its high potential for re-use and recycling.

CDW usually comes in a complex and mixed form that is very difficult to recycle. Currently, the main option for CWD disposal is landfill. However, the construction materials manufacturing industry produces considerable amounts of ceramic-based waste as production process scraps and waste that is not recycled in large volumes at present. But Europe still lacks structured networks for the collection and re-use of CDW and manufacturing waste in a formal value chain (as is the case of glass or metal waste).

The LIFE ECO TILES project will demonstrate the possibility to produce fully recycled (up to nearly 70%) pre-casted cement-based products (Terrazzo tiles) using recycled glass from urban and industrial waste, ceramic and Construction & Demolition Waste (CDW). The production will have a substantial less (-20%) environmental impact than for traditional tiles and achieve the manufacture of high-grade pre-casted products.
ECO TILES products will contribute to the achievement of EU 2020 goals on Waste and Resource Efficiency, by reducing emissions, resource waste, impacts on human health and the environment.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ADDRESSED

Themes

Environmental management – Green procurement, Industry-Production – Building, Waste – Construction and demolition waste.

Keywords

waste recycling‚ life-cycle management‚ resource conservation.

Target EU Legislation:

1) Waste, 2) Directive 2008/98 – Waste and repealing certain Directives (Waste Framework Directive) (19.11.200 …, 3) COM(2014)398 – “Towards a circular economy: a zero waste programme for Europe” (02.07.2014)

BENEFICIARIES

Coordinator

Università degli Studi di Camerino

Partner

GRA (Grandinetti Srl), Italy

Project reference

LIFE14 ENV/IT/000801

Duration

01-SEP-2015 to 28-FEB-2018

Total budget

1,214,300.00 €

EU financial contribution

728,579 €