France-based multinational Vicat group has been contributing to the European SeRaMCo (Secondary Raw Materials for Concrete Precast Products) project, aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the construction sector by finding beneficial uses for inert waste from demolition sites. The company has been undertaking industrial trials to incorporate fines derived from demolition concrete as a raw material for cement production – an initiative that forms one aspect of Vicat’s circular economy drive. By Laury Barnes-Davin, Arnaud Delhay, Breffni Bolze and Valentin Costa, Vicat SA, France.
Construction and demolition works generate construction and demolition wastes (CDWs). The processing of CDWs consists of crushing and removing impurities to produce recycled aggregates (RAs). The fine fraction of these RAs can be incorporated into the production of cement as an alternative material due to mineral similarities with raw materials.
Vicat’s SeRaMCo (Secondary Raw Materials for Concrete Precast Products) industrial clinker production trial project, was carried out at the company’s cement factory in Créchy near Vichy, France (see Figure 1). The plant was chosen due its layout and equipment, which includes a platform for receiving alternative raw materials, a linear prehomogenisation hall and a clinker storage tunnel built especially for the project (see Figure 2).
