CE4CON: RECYCLED MATERIALS AND DIGITALIZATION SERVING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
CE4Con – Circular Economy for Construction industries is a new project that Materially has been collaborating on since January 2023 and will end in August of the same year. A digital platform to support manufacturers of façades and building envelope components, in the design and production of new items with recycled material, by providing access to technical information on material sourcing, characteristics and availability. In this way, materials audit and waste management planning will be done more efficiently from the start.
The CE4Con solution will also make it easier for manufacturers, builders, architects, and all stakeholders to connect with waste recyclers and reverse logistics providers.
Focchi Spa – Progetto: Mario Cucinella Architects
The platform will be validated by façade manufacturer Focchi Spa to demonstrate that they can be adopted and create impact even in a poorly digitized industry such as construction.
CE4Con is part of the KYKLOS40 Project Funded Experiment | Open Call #2, and is implemented in collaboration with R2M, Holonix Srl and Focchi Spa.
The project is based on the ReUse platform, implemented by Holonix and further tested in the DigiPrime project, which enables the recycling of composite materials. The ReUse platform supports the entire value chain, creating a matchmaking between the demand for new materials and the available supply of products for recycling, while also informing about the technical properties of new materials and processes for waste treatment. This database was enhanced with information on new recycled materials for the building envelope industry by Materially.
Materially collaborated in identifying the criteria needed to classify materials within the database. The first criteria selected were manufacturer and material name, composition, and physical properties. After this initial information, we focused on the recyclability criteria with an emphasis on Life Cycle Assessment.
Qbiss One – Trimo
After this first activity dedicated to defining the selection criteria, Materially carried out, together with other partners, the search for materials that could be included within the database, using the EPD (Environmental Product Declaration), which is a document that describes the environmental impacts related to the production of a specific amount of product/material.
Focchi Spa
Within the project platform, the augmented reality-based R2M RIALTO solution will guide and support operators during dismantling, waste sorting and pre-processing operations. CE4Con will be enriched by the KYKLOS Circular Manufacturing ecosystem: the goal is an increasingly massive adoption of the circular economy for the construction industry that will be able to produce socio-economic benefits for facade manufacturers.
Finally, CE4Con will establish a commercial partnership with the MEZeroE and Metabuilding Labs platforms, both already active in providing services to the construction industry. Stay tuned for further updates on the project and its impact to promote responsible resource use in the construction industry.
