FCC Construccion, in collaboration with the Eurecat Technology Center, has obtained R + D + i funding from the Catalan Waste Agency to carry out a research project on the recycling of plastics, generating a new product with high added value.

In the construction of civil and residential works, plastic waste is generated (material packaging, containers, plastic sacks, etc.) that are intended to be recycled and valued, generating a product with added value that minimizes the environmental impact. Most of these plastics correspond to polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to the report "Plastic Waste" of the catalan plastic center, the construction sector only recycles 1% of the plastics generated by its activity. With this project we want to demonstrate that in this sector you can research and develop new products that incorporate this waste in your process in order to provide added value and increase the rate of recycling of materials in the construction sector.

The project is based on the research of the treatment of these plastic waste to be able to include them in the concrete formulations with the aggregate and to generate a lightweight concrete with flame retardant properties. It will be necessary, therefore, to analyze and evaluate the interaction of plastic waste with fine aggregate to ensure that, faced with an increase in temperature in a fire situation, the concrete developed prevents the propagation of the same and therefore affects it to people and goods.

The REFORM2 project will analyze all the plastic waste generated in a work and will select the most suitable to be included in the mixture of aggregates that make up the fire-retardant concrete. For the development of this new plastic from waste, FCC Construccion has the collaboration of Eurecat, which has an extrusion-compounding pilot plant where the different thermoplastic compounds with the physical-chemical properties similar to the rest of the aggregates will be manufactured. of the concrete that allow a homogeneous mixing and an optimum quality of the concrete once set.

With the results of this project, we will be able to develop a new product for the construction market, obtaining a new fire-retardant concrete whose composition contains this recycled plastic mixed with a fine aggregate, which will allow to obtain a lighter material and a reduction of the raw material used. taking advantage of waste from the works. This supposes a step more in the footpath of the circular economy, contributing like this to transform the construction in an activity increasingly sustainable.