Contribution of Carbon Concrete Construction to the Circular and Resource Economy

Abstract

Fibre-reinforced composites are used in many industries. In the construction industry, for example, the building material carbon concrete is increasingly being used successfully. Although the demand for fibre-reinforced composites and fibre-reinforced plastics made of carbon fibres has risen continuously by approximately 11% per year over the last 10 years, there is currently still no coherent integration of fibre-containing waste into the corresponding material cycles. In addition, there are ever-increasing requirements for environmental and climate protection, which necessitate a transformation from linear waste management to a cycle-oriented recycling and resource management overall. Carbon concrete construction is already providing an important impetus for the construction industry. The use of reinforcement made of mat or grid-shaped and bar-shaped carbon fibres basically makes a significant contribution to the conservation of resources, and ultimately a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 80% is possible. In connection with recyclability, it is demonstrated that with today’s common facilities, both the deconstruction and dismantling of components and structures made of carbon concrete and the collection and sorting of the demolition material using camera-based sorting with a grade purity of 98% are already possible. In addition, the article provides an outlook on the project WIRreFa|WIR! recyceln Fasern (We recycle fibres) and its approach to closing the material cycle of fibre composites.