Rapid urbanization of the territory, population growth and industrialization have led to excessive use of natural resources in recent years. Added to this there is the serious effect of climate change; from the industrial revolution to today, economic activities have released an increasing quantity of greenhouse gases, far superior than the one that natural carbon cycle is able to absorb. The development and use of new building materials represents a new frontier to reduce production and improve the environmental sustainability of the territory. Using the principles of circular economy allows for this purpose to reduce the impact on the environment adopting recycled materials. Organic waste from industry represents a new potential construction material, fully recyclable, available in large quantities and at reduced costs. The reuse of organic waste contributes to the reduction of CO2 production and consequently decreases health and environmental risks. The easy sourcing of raw materials leads to less exploitation of natural resources, by safeguarding and protecting existing ones. From a first study it emerges that the link between natural resources, waste and building materials is very close, but little known. The aim of this study is to show the current state of the art in Italy regarding the use of natural raw materials to produce building materials. In particular, a material widely diffused in Eastern Sicily, the scraps of citrus fruits, is evaluated. The results show the great availability of these raw materials and their possible application as building product, ensuring the containment of energy necessary to produce them. The present research can guarantee the overcoming of some limits of the sector, such as the lack of environmental sensitivity and the limited propensity to innovation of the building operators.

New building materials: application of agricultural and industrial waste

Santi Maria Cascone;Nicoletta Tomasello;Matteo Vitale
2019-01-01

Abstract

Rapid urbanization of the territory, population growth and industrialization have led to excessive use of natural resources in recent years. Added to this there is the serious effect of climate change; from the industrial revolution to today, economic activities have released an increasing quantity of greenhouse gases, far superior than the one that natural carbon cycle is able to absorb. The development and use of new building materials represents a new frontier to reduce production and improve the environmental sustainability of the territory. Using the principles of circular economy allows for this purpose to reduce the impact on the environment adopting recycled materials. Organic waste from industry represents a new potential construction material, fully recyclable, available in large quantities and at reduced costs. The reuse of organic waste contributes to the reduction of CO2 production and consequently decreases health and environmental risks. The easy sourcing of raw materials leads to less exploitation of natural resources, by safeguarding and protecting existing ones. From a first study it emerges that the link between natural resources, waste and building materials is very close, but little known. The aim of this study is to show the current state of the art in Italy regarding the use of natural raw materials to produce building materials. In particular, a material widely diffused in Eastern Sicily, the scraps of citrus fruits, is evaluated. The results show the great availability of these raw materials and their possible application as building product, ensuring the containment of energy necessary to produce them. The present research can guarantee the overcoming of some limits of the sector, such as the lack of environmental sensitivity and the limited propensity to innovation of the building operators.
2019
978-989-54499-0-3
recycle, sustainability, low-carbon, circular economy
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/367742
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