ICEBERG will make significant advances in the uptake of the circular economy in the building industry through the development of innovative circular reverse logistics’ tools and high-value secondary raw materials production technologies to establish market confidence and acceptability of recycled End-of-Life building materials (EBM). ICEBERG aims to design, develop, demonstrate and validate advanced technologies for the production of high-purity secondary raw materials (>92%w) through 6 circular case studies (CCS) across Europe, covering circularity of wood, concrete, mixed aggregate, plasterboard, glass, polymeric insulating foams and inorganic superinsulation materials. ICEBERG will generate cross-cutting integrated smart solutions that encompass three innovative circular reverse logistics’ strategies: an upgraded BIM-aided-Smart Demolition tool; a novel digital EBM traceability platform; and Radio Frequency and QR based identification system. ICEBERG will develop novel technologies for the recovery of EBM, which include: hyperspectral imaging (HSI), machine-learning software and robotic manipulators to increase sorting efficiency of mixed aggregates; an integrated crushing, sorting and cleaning optimized system and fast pyrolysis and purification processes for wood fractions; thermal attrition mobile unit integrated with LIBS and carbonation for concrete; hydrocyclone combined with HSI sorting and acid purification to increase the purity of recycled plasterboard; a combined process of purification and solvolysis for polymeric insulating foams; advanced hydrothermal and supercritical based processing of glass and silica containing waste. Circular design solutions for greater circularity of EBM and production of innovative circular building products with high purity and recycled content (30% - 100%) will be also implemented. ICEBERG will generate in the mid-term an economic benefit of 1758 M€ and 6265 new jobs by 2030.

CARBCOMN addresses a disruptive innovation in zero-carbon concrete load-bearing structures (combination of columns, beams, slabs or walls) by setting forth a new digital AEC design paradigm that is fully compatible with concrete that uses CO2 as raw material and is carbon-negative. Digital methodologies are exploited and developed to realise an innovative carbon-neutral construction system implementing structural geometries that are compression dominant, optimise the CO2 sequestration capability and make use of demountable discrete blocks combined with system redundancy. The latter will be assisted by the combined use of funicular shapes and post-tensioning with shape memory alloys. To handle the complex geometries in combination with a carbon-negative concrete-like material, an innovative digital pipeline is developed that incorporates for example computed tomography, topology optimization and 3D construction. Using CO2 sequestration to harden the concrete-like material for widely used load bearing structures will reduce embodied greenhouse gas emissions in an unprecedented way. The material design, incorporating recycled materials and by-products derived from other industrial processes (e.g. slags and ashes) will equally reduce raw material usage. The intrinsic durability properties by introducing a system that is not susceptible to rebar corrosion and is deconstructable, will achieve both long service life and circularity, to further reduce the environmental impact of the built environment. The overall superiority of the proposed system with respect to the current state of practice will be demonstrated through a full life cycle analysis. Throughout the CARBCOMN project, compliance with relevant standards of building operational performance will be established, and designers, architects, engineers will be enabled to use the novel design paradigm for inspiring buildings.

Europe is faced with the challenge of sustaining a secure supply of by-product metals, which play a fundamental role in the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector and innovations in high-tech sectors. To loosen the growth restrictions imposed by the inflexible supply from primary mining, alternative sources for these metals must be explored. At the same time a wealth of metals is entrapped within the vast amounts of secondary resources still being landfilled or used in applications where their intrinsic value is not fully utilized. To unlock the potential of these resources, a radically new approach to metal recovery must be deployed. Crucial factor within this new value chain is the zero-waste approach, which captures not only the contained metals but also valorises the residual matrix (often >95% of the bulk material). Such an approach requires the development of innovative, highly selective metal recovery technologies that fully capture the metal-value without impairing the properties of the residual matrix material for valorisation. CHROMIC aims to develop such new recovery processes for critical (Cr, Nb) and economically valuable (Mo, V) by-product metals from secondary resources, based on the smart integration of enhanced pre-treatment, selective alkaline leaching and highly selective metal recovery across the value chain. An overarching assessment of the related economic, environmental and health and safety aspects will be carried out in an iterative way to ensure that the developed technologies meet the requirements of the circular economy whilst being in line with current market demand. The technology will be developed for two models streams (stainless steel slags and ferrochrome slags) with the potential of replication to numerous industrial residues across Europe. Involvement of society from early on will smooth the path towards implementation, so that the CHROMIC processes can contribute to securing Europe’s supply of critical raw materials.