The construction industry is one of the most resource-intensive sectors of the economy worldwide. In the European Union, about 50 % of all extracted raw materials can be attributed to the construction sector. Of these, 90 % represent non-renewable mineral raw materials such as gravel, sand and stone. In 2021, 12.5 million tons of mineral construction and demolition waste were generated in Austria, of which 9 million tons are processed according to downcycling principles in accordance with the Recycling Construction Materials Ordinance. The new fields of application would be the use of the material as fill in structural and civil engineering, and as unbound base layers in road construction.
In the UP!crete project, the performance of recycling concretes in upcycling is being researched using innovative methods. The properties of recycled aggregate (RG) will be improved to allow higher replacement rates of natural rock in recycling concrete.
Project duration: 03/2023 – 02/2027
Additional information can be found on the ecoplus project website (german).
UP!crete is funded by the FFG basic program Collective Research with funds from the BMK and co-financed by the project partners.
