Generate recycled concrete from waste generated during and after the 3D printing process. This is the company's latest project FICEP Steel Surface Systemsbased in Vilassar de Dalt (Barcelona), for which it has created a new system that uses waste such as plastic dust, dyes, agents, glass spheres or aluminium oxide to generate a concrete hybrid that represents a sustainable alternative for the construction industry.
The aim of Project BCN - as the project is called - stems from the idea that while 3D printing is a technology that can replace polluting processes and materials for a wide range of applications, it is also a technology that can be used to replace polluting processes and materials for a wide range of applications, generates a large amount of waste during its own manufacturing process. A facet of this type of technology that is little talked about and on which this project aims to act directly, giving a new life to this polluting waste, converting it into resources and contributing to the reduction of the ecological footprint.
After months of study, the company has developed a system that manages to recycle leftover materials from its own 3D manufacturing processThe company uses various thermoplastics and different chemical fusion and fixing agents, among others.
Sustainable concrete
But Project BCN is also looking for a solution to the problems caused by the concrete industry, which, according to OECD data, is estimated to use up an estimated 27 billion tonnes of sand and gravel. Alarming figures for the planet and the environment, considering that the industry's need for sand and gravel is growing faster than nature itself is producing. This is in addition to the greenhouse gases created by cement manufacture, which alone accounts for no less than 7% of global CO2 emissions.
To produce the new concrete hybrid, the company has developed a machine, with most of the parts manufactured and 3D printed, which optimises the process and automatically ensures a balanced material mix without the need for human intervention. The result, tested on decorative moulds in the form of tiles, shows a sandy material with a strength equivalent to 90% of the same shape constructed with cement. Moreover, the fact that a high percentage of this new hybrid is made of plastic ensures that it can replace concrete without affecting the structure of the material.
Project BCN is in the process of entering a second phase, to be definitively launched on the market.
