Sand and gravel have become scarce materials in Denmark. Therefore Affald Varme Aarhus have developed new methods for making asphalt and recycled concrete.
The content of the gravel pits is a limited resource, and in a densely populated coun-try like Denmark, it becomes progressively more difficult to find places to extract raw materials.
The consequences may be that the materials of the future for infrastructure must be sourced from abroad. Something that will be both expensive, cumbersome and cause a great climate impact.
AffaldVarme Aarhus works with the long-term solutions together with the construc-tion company Arkil experimenting with recycled concrete as a replacement for grav-el when the asphalt is to be produced.
The idea is called Bitubeton. A contraction of bitumen - an oil product that is to bind the asphalt together - and concrete(beton).
AffaldVarme Aarhus is also involved in another project using old concrete for making new tiles, together with the company IBF Beton
The concrete is crushed, cleaned and sorted into sizes, after which they are used in the new tiles. The sustainable tiles were initially laid on a test section in Lisbjerg. The sustainable sidewalk tiles can be recycled over and over again.
Resources needed
Grained reused concrete from recycling stationsmixed together with Bitumen.
Normally only 10-15 % reused concrete can enter in asphalt production but by using Bituen the number increases to 90% reused concrete.
Evidence of success
The asphalt have been tested at various sites in Aarhus.
The recycling station REUSE in Aarhus is paved with the new climate-friendly asphalt, and it is about to be tested for whether it can withstand the massive pressure from heavy traffic.
The tile production is in the start up phase, where the tiles are tested at various sites in Aarhus. The objective is that IBF Beton will start up production of re - tiles made of recycled concrete.
Potential for learning or transfer
The new product are quite easy to produce and AVA together with Arkil and IBF Beton have great expectation in expanding the production and sees the new ways og making concrete and asphalt as important alternatives to the conventional technologies
Tags: Circular economy, Construction, Efficiency, Good practice, Governance, Innovation, Resource
