Die Qualität von rezyklierten Gesteinskörnungen muss nicht nur bautechnischen Anforderungen und rechtlich verbindlichen Umweltstandards genügen, sondern ihr Einsatz in der Betonherstellung wird auch vor dem Hintergrund der Leitlinien der Nachhaltigkeit bewertet. Für die Gewinnung von rezyklierten Gesteinskörnungen bedeutet dies, dass sowohl bei den Abbrucharbeiten als auch bei der Bauschuttaufbereitung darauf geachtet werden muss, dass die gewählten Verfahren nicht nur ökonomischen Kriterien genügen müssen, sondern auch keine nachteiligen ökologischen oder sozialen Auswirkungen haben dürfen.
In verschiedenen Forschungsprojekten konnte durch ökobilanzielle Bewertungen von einzelnen Verfahren und Verfahrensabläufen gezeigt werden, dass rezyklierte Gesteinskörnungen aus Altbeton unter bestimmten Rahmenbedingungen umweltverträglich gewonnen werden können und ihre Nutzung durch die Substitution von Natursteinkörnungen sowohl zur Schonung von natürlichen Ressourcen als auch zu einer Reduzierung von Umweltbelastungen beitragen kann.
Effects of wet processed crushed concrete fines as secondary aggregates in building materials
(2008)
Ressourceneffizienz im Betonrecycling - Rahmen und Möglichkeiten in Deutschland und der Schweiz
(2013)
Aufgrund der großen anfallenden Massenströme ist die Wiederverwertung von Baurestmassen in Industrienationen von besonderer Bedeutung. Auch vor dem Hintergrund der Ressourceneffizienz wird beispielsweise die Nutzung des in Bauschutt vorhandenen Wertstoffpotentials zunehmend wichtiger.
Eine besondere Rolle spielt dabei die Wiederverwertung von Altbeton. Ein Grund hierfür ist der deutliche Anstieg des seit Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts im Bauwesen verbrauchten Betons und die damit verbundene – zeitlich versetzte – Zunahme des Altbetonanteils im Bauschutt. Darüber hinaus ist das Wertstoffpotential von Altbeton im Vergleich zu anderen Abbruchmaterialien besonders groß, denn Altbeton kann unter bestimmten Bedingungen sehr hochwertig auch als rezyklierte Gesteinskörnung wieder in der Betonherstellung eingesetzt werden. Damit kann ein Kreislauf im Sinne eines Closed-loop-Recycling verwirklicht und Altbeton damit hochwertig wiederverwertet werden.
A sustainable recycling of photovoltaic (PV) thin film modules gains in importance due to the considerable growing of the PV market and the increasing scarcity of the resources for semiconductor materials. The paper presents the development of two strategies for thin film PV recycling based on (wet) mechanical processing for broken modules, and combined thermal and mechanical methods for end-of-life modules. The feasibility of the processing steps was demonstrated in laboratory scale as well as in semi-technical scale using the example of CdTe and CIS modules. Pre-concentrated valuables In and Te from wet mechanical processing can be purified to the appropriate grade for the production of new modules.
An advantage of the wet mechanical processing in comparison to the conventional procedure might be the usage of no or a small amount of chemicals during the several steps.
Some measures are necessary in order to increase the efficiency of the wet mechanical processing regarding the improvement of the valuable yield and the related enrichment of the semiconductor material.
The investigation of the environmental impacts of both recycling strategies indicates that the strategy, which includes wet mechanical separation, has clear advantages in comparison to the thermal treatment or disposal on landfills.
The use of renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaics (PV) should be sustainable and environmentally compatible and therefore protect the environment from risks and damaging impacts. Regarding the growing number of installed photovoltaic systems, the end-of-life management of the pv-modules will become increasingly important. Thin film panels contain hazardous substances that may harm the environment if they are not recycled or disposed properly after reaching the end of their service life. Heavy metals, for example, can be toxic as well as carcinogenic or teratogenic. Processing methods for the recycling of PV thin film modules have to take these facts into account. Currently the available recycling techniques usually utilise chemicals such as acids for a wet-chemical treatment of end-of-life modules. The aim of RESOLVED was to identify and test alternative methods for a wet-mechanical treatment in order to reduce the consumption of chemicals in the recycling of thin film modules. Furthermore, the recovered Cadmium-Telluride (CdTe) and Copper-Indium-Diselenide/Disulfide (CIS) should be helping to save scare resources especially for limited elements such as tellurium and indium. The project RESOLVED investigated the recovery of semiconductors material as secondary raw material and the decontamination of the residues of the PV thin film modules. These goals were achieved by testing and optimising existing technologies for the recycling process as well as for the enrichment of the semiconductor materials. The target is to re-use the enriched recovered material in the production of new PV modules. Special efforts were made to look into life cycle analysis, process sustainability, economical aspects, and resource availability.
Due to the great quantities of construction and demolition waste in Europe, the reuse of building material waste as secondary raw materials is of particular importance. A recycling of building materials can meet the requirements of sustainability in several aspects: the extended time availability of primary raw materials and the related protection of natural resources as well as the saving of landfill sites. In recent years sulphates originating from gypsum in secondary building materials, made of construction and demolition waste, received growing attention. Sulphates are unwanted in secondary building materials for concrete production as well as for other use e.g. in unbounded layers. The content of gypsum resp. sulphates in secondary aggregates can be reduced by different methods. Depending on the type of material different steps for selective dismantling can be used to separate gypsum containing residues from concrete rubble. Furthermore some steps for the processing of building rubble are suitable for the reduction of sulphates in the produced aggregates. An environmental evaluation of different ways for the production of recycled concrete aggregates was performed with regard to a reduction of sulphates in the secondary building material. The use of techniques for selective dismantling was environmentally advantegous for the deconstruction of three investigated model houses.