THE PROJECT IN BRIEF
What is CASA
The CASA project aims to contribute to strengthening the production sector operating in the field of building materials, focusing on waste recovery and valorization, in the spirit of the circular economy and sustainable development. In particular, CASA intends to develop “green” cementitious materials that incorporate waste from various regional production chains, such as the sports flooring sector (synthetic fibers), the ceramic industry (fired material waste), construction (Gasbeton), agricultural production (cattle manure, rice husk), and energy (biochar). CASA combines the high demand for construction materials with the need to valorize technologically poor waste often destined for landfills today. The project fully fits within the recent regulatory context of Minimum Environmental Criteria and promotes a shift in the conception and production of building materials towards reducing environmental impacts, sustainability, and reuse.
OBJECTIVES
CASA aims to study the technological and industrial potentials associated with the recovery of process/product waste within construction materials, with the goal to enhance circularity in waste management, considering environmental and social impacts, technical feasibility, and economic practicability; to reduce the consumption of virgin raw materials and CO2 emissions, by enabling the use of waste for fiber production or as substitutes for aggregates/cement in concrete; to raise awareness about the extended producer responsibility regarding waste management systems, developing processes of transition towards more sustainable systems; to contribute to achieving SDGs 9, 11, 12, 13 of the 2030 Agenda.
ACTIVITIES
The CASA project includes:
– processing waste available from regional supply chains (biochar, rice husk, cattle manure, Gasbeton, ceramic waste, fibers and plastic aggregates from end-of-life sports fields) to make them suitable for inclusion in concrete as filler, aggregates, or fibers;
– producing high value-added synthetic fibers derived from plastic waste/biochar and developing engineered coating treatments with microparticles for better adhesion to concrete;
– formulating concrete mix designs containing different percentages of recycled waste inserted as filler, replacing natural aggregates or cement, or as fibers;
– investigating the chemical-physical, thermal, acoustic, and mechanical properties, resistance to aggressive agents, carbonation, and protection of metal reinforcements, to highlight the residual technological value of the waste and ensure the material’s durability and compliance with current regulations for product class;
– conducting economic-environmental evaluation through LCA studies to define the best option for reusing waste in a new material, including the technical feasibility of different production stages up to prototype testing;
– disseminating the achieved results in technical and social contexts, thus contributing to developing growing interest in innovative and eco-sustainable materials.
RESULTS
The expected results are:
– to introduce new competitive products into the market, capable of combining the reuse of waste from the production of the involved industries with the improvement of concrete performance and meeting the Minimum Environmental Criteria, demonstrating industrial feasibility and increasing the competitiveness of companies and the production system;
– to quantify the technological advantages (and disadvantages) of the developed products compared to traditional materials in order to define their application fields and economic convenience;
– to develop widespread awareness of the environmental benefits inherent in an economy based on product life cycles and ecological sustainability.
OBJECTIVES AGENDA 2030
The construction sector, within which the CASA project is positioned, plays a key role in achieving the objectives set by the 2030 Agenda, as it is responsible for about 12% of freshwater withdrawal, 40% of material and energy use, and 7-8% of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. This trend is continuously increasing worldwide, considering that the UN estimates that the urban population will reach 6.5 billion by 2050. Considering the sustainability of the entire building life cycle, it becomes important to reduce environmental impact from the beginning, i.e., starting from the production of construction materials. By promoting the recycling of non-hazardous materials from activities related to the territory in construction materials, CASA advocates for this ecological transition, contributing to the achievement of sustainable goals linked to Goals 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and 13 (Climate Action) of the 2030 Agenda, and to the achievement of Mission 2 (Green Revolution and Ecological Transition) of the PNRR.
The materials developed by CASA will allow for increasing the recycling rate, decreasing the consumption of non-renewable raw materials and the consequent environmental damage related to mining excavation, and reducing CO2 emissions linked to cement use. Moreover, CASA promotes the use of biochar, which is a negative emission material due to its ability to capture CO2, resulting in long-term carbon sequestration in buildings, contributing to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
