High value construction products for the circular economy The team behind the Re:FAB project are working to turn recycled materials from construction and demolition sites into high value new products. This will help address sustainability concerns and encourage the transition towards a circular economy, as Helena Tuvendal, Ola Karlsson, Johan Borgström and Fabian Sellberg explain. A type of insulating material widely used in the construction industry, glass wool is currently produced through a highly energy intensive process, which involves melting glass at temperatures of over 1,000ºC. With many companies aiming to improve resource efficiency and reduce their environmental impact, the team behind the Re:FAB project are developing innovative sound absorbent solutions using recycled glass wool from acoustic ceiling panels. “From a technical point of view, glass wool ceiling panels are an ideal candidate for recycling and reuse, and they are also easy to handle and access,” explains Ola Karlsson, Sustainability & Innovation Director at Saint-Gobin Ecophon, one of the partners in the project. The aim is to demonstrate a circular value chain, from the recycling of glass wool through to its eventual reuse in new products, alongside developing new manufacturing technologies, with each of the six partners bringing their own expertise to bear on the challenge of improving resource efficiency. “At The Loop Factory we’re looking at how the raw material can be used to develop innovative new products. What technologies do we need www.euresearcher.com
in our production line in order to optimise production efficiency?” outlines Helena Tuvendal, Manager of the project.
Resource efficiency This research is part of the wider goal of making better use of existing resources and improving the sustainability of the construction industry, rather than simply using new materials every time an office is renovated or redesigned. The typical Swedish office is renovated around every seven years, with an increased focus
today on reusing materials from construction and demolition sites. “We aim to reuse building materials as much as possible. One part of that is reusing the acoustic ceilings that are already present in offices,” says Fabian Sellberg, an architect at project partner, LINK Architecture. Not all of this material may be reused in new products, as it may not reach modern safety standards, but it can still hold value. “Very old glass wool can be taken back and re-melted, or perhaps go into other value streams, but it will not be re-introduced to
The Re:FAB demonstration product.
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