Veurne will get a research center for recycled concrete

Our province will soon be more than ever the pioneer in the field of building with sustainable concrete. And that is important: because new concrete is expensive and raw materials are scarce.

“Sand is under pressure”

Entrepreneurs from all over the country visited concrete company De Brabandere in Veurne. They have been experimenting there for some time with 100% reusable concrete aggregates. They are currently erecting a concrete wall, with ready-mixed concrete made from superfine reusable ground concrete sand.

“This sand comes from surpluses from the renovation of Ostend Airport,” says Pieter De Brabandere, the CEO of De Brabandere Eco Materials. “There is a lot of good rubble there. Actually an urban mining of Ostend and Veurne and we use it. What we are doing here is responding to the scarcity of sea sand. River sand is also under enormous pressure.”

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New research center

Next year, construction will start in Veurne on a research center that will focus entirely on reusable concrete. The center can count on European money and will be built in collaboration with KU Leuven and innovators from the concrete sector.

“There is already a lot of knowledge about circular concrete. We have noticed that many companies are not aware of it. That is why we want to show it in a demonstration center. We also want to do tests with new concrete mixtures. There will also be an advice desk to assist companies” , says Stefaan Verhamme, Sustainable Building expert at POM West Flanders.

Against global warming

The concrete industry accounts for 5 to 8 percent of total CO2 emissions. The ecological footprint of recycled concrete is only half as large, so it helps against global warming.