ReWINDS

Recycling of Waste Into New Demonstrated Sustainable Solutions

Principal Investigator: Annalisa Natali Murri
Personnel involved: Valentina Medri, Elettra Papa, Elena Landi
Starting date: 04/10/2023
Duration: 30 months
Total funding: 499.788 €
Action: POR-FESR Emilia Romagna 2021/2027 – ASSE 1 – Research and Innovation, Action 1.1.2
Project Coordinator: Luca Laghi (CertiMaC)
Consortium: CertiMaC Soc. Cons. a r.l. (Faenza, RA), CNR-ISSMC, CertiMaC  (Faenza, RA), Consorzio Universitario per la
gestione del centro di ricerca e sperimentazione per l’industria ceramica – Centro Ceramico (Modena), Laboratorio Teknehub – Università di Ferrara (Ferrara)
Involved companies: Recter S.r.l., Ecofelsinea S.r.l.,  Litokol S.p.A., Wienerberger S.p.A., Ceramiche Serra S.p.A., WASP S.r.l., URSA Italia S.r.l., CMFC, Acer Bologna

ReWINDS was born from the need to redefine and overcome the limits to the use of CDW (Construction and Demolition Waste) as new secondary raw materials, limits of a nature: -technological (difficulty in separating homogeneous fractions by composition) -performance (properties inferior to virgin material) -legislative (difficulty to overcome barriers imposed by law) -cultural (acceptance).
The construction supply chain in fact requires strong support both from the point of view of the disposal of the large quantities of waste produced and stored daily (with little possibility of reuse) and for the development of innovative and sustainable materials, minimizing the consumption of non-renewable primary resources.
National legislation already requires that construction materials use a percentage of by-products/waste in their composition, but the solutions do not find space due to limited characterization (durability checks) and prejudices in the end-users. The project, starting from products that use waste developed in previous projects (TRL4), aims to optimize them by integrating CDW, characterize them and demonstrate their performance (comparable to traditional materials) through the creation of prototypes and installations in pilot sites (TRL6-7), thus breaking down obstacles to market diffusion and following EU sustainability directives. Sharing with companies in the construction supply chain will allow us to demonstrate the validity of the solutions developed by anticipating the industrial impact of the results.

ReWINDS contributes to the implementation of the S3 objectives of the E-R Region as it promotes EU policies from a regional perspective, VALUING BOTH RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES OF THE TERRITORY. The project is located in the BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION production system and proposes to develop specific solutions for the construction sector (bricks, mortars, tiles, conglomerates, insulation, mixtures for additive manufacturing, geopolymeric and alkaline activated materials).
THE INNOVATION of these solutions is consistent with the CIRCULAR ECONOMY thematic scope as it develops SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS, with reduced environmental impact, through the USE OF WASTE from construction and demolition operations (CDW) coming from LOCAL SITES, such as SECOND RAW MATERIALS as a replacement for limited natural resources. The EMBODIED CARBON (EC) evaluation of the products created adds valuable information for the definition of environmental sustainability policies and the results of the analyzes aim to provide solutions that favor the reduction of environmental impact of the activities of the supply chain, in line with the objectives relating to the production systems of regional specialization: BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT and at the same time guaranteeing HEALTHY LIVING ENVIRONMENTS FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE PERSON in relation to high performance and reduced emissions during use of the developed materials.