Project Dates

Start: 2015

The Story

Circular economy and urban mining are the new buzzwords in the construction industry. There is an obvious reason why the circular economy and the recycling of materials are taking the centre stage: the building sector is responsible for 40 percent of the world‘s greenhouse gases. So solutions are urgently needed to counteract this. Austria‘s cement industry is considered a role model worldwide in this respect, as it has set itself the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2030. Holcim Austria therefore focuses on recycling, among other things, and designed the first cement in Austria that contains broken concrete from deconstructed buildings. The concrete rubble is processed in the company‘s own recycling centre and then finely ground in the raw mill. So instead of disposing of the rubble in landfills, it can be reintroduced into the production of new building materials. In addition, CO2 is applied to the concrete rubble therefore achieving CO2 reabsorption.

Success Factor | Hero Moment

The general conditions in the construction industry – scarce and increasingly expensive raw materials as well as energy-intensive and therefore CO2-intensive processes – require to think about and implement circular economy, resource conservation, recycling and thus future-oriented innovations.

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