Diseño de materiales sostenibles dentro de una economía circular

Abstract

Over the last few decades society has been proposing, and with ever more conviction and urgency driving, environmental policies aimed at lowering natural resource consumption and waste generation. Construction and demolition waste (CDW), which accounts for the highest volume of solid waste generated, is susceptible to 100 % valorisation. Two primary aims were pursued in the research giving rise to this thesis: to study and assess construction and demolition waste (CDW) from a number of recycling plants in Spain and Portugal; and to explore alternative approaches to design and manufacture sustainable concretes that include such materials either as part of their granular skeleton or as a partial cement replacement. Consequently, the study entailed in-depth exploration into the basic mechanisms whereby this waste affects concrete micro- and macro-properties. The findings can be applied in the scope of civil engineering to establish the grounds for comprehensive reuse of CDW in the eco-efficient design of concretes made with coarse mixed recycled aggregate and low-clinker content CDW-bearing cement to meet the growing need to rework concrete as we know it today into a more sustainable material.