L'innovazione di prodotto per la transizione ecologica: Il riciclo del laterizio e del vetro

Nel contesto tematico dell’uso consapevole e del riciclo delle risorse materiche, il Dipartimento di Architettura dell’Università di Roma Tre ha in corso una linea di ricerca improntatasui temi dell’innovazione ambientale di prodotto. Tale linea è rappresentata da due ricerche applicative che coinvolgono aziende produttrici del settore delle costruzioni. Entrambe le ricerche affrontano il tema della additivazione delle miscele, rispettivamente del laterizio e del calcestruzzo, per la realizzazione di prodotti con prestazioni migliorate. Gli esiti conducono alla prototipazione di due prodotti: un blocco in laterizio, realizzato con scarti che sostituiscono una frazione di argilla con una miscela di fanghi bentonitici e residui metallici, e una miscela di calcestruzzo per massetti, realizzata con scarti e rifiuti in vetro da costruzione e demolizione che sostituiscono gli aggregati naturali. --- In the thematic environment of conscious use and material resource recycling, the Department of Architecture of the Roma Tre University is currently conducting a research line focused on environmental product innovation. This line consists of two application studies involving manufacturing companies in the construction sector. Both types of research address the issue of additives in the mix design of bricks and concrete, respectively, to achieve better-performing products. The results led to the prototyping of two products: a brick,made from waste replacing a fraction of clay with a mixture of bentonite sludge and metal residues, and a concrete screed mix, made from construction and demolition glass waste replacing natural aggregates

Il vetro piano: potenziale inespresso di un rifiuto da costruzione e demolizione

This contribution is developed within the Ph.D. course conducted by the author at the Department of Architecture of the University of Roma Tre. The research has as its focus the development of new mix designs through the use of recycled glass, as a secondary raw material, to replace classic fine aggregates of stone origin. The measures implemented on a global scale, starting from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the European Green deal, have highlighted how much the construction sector, throughout its supply chain, contributes significant percentages in harmful gas emissions. In particular, recent studies on the state of conservation of Europe’s building stock have shown how it is one of the most energy-intensive sectors of the entire industry, in relation to the years of construction. These aspects will necessarily condition the strategic choices that will have to be made in this sector, with particular reference to interventions aimed at the energy efficiency of the building heritage of the 20th century. The results that, as a consequence of these actions, will lead this heritage to a lower demand for energy and a lower emission of harmful gases will, at the same time, contribute to an increase in Construction and Demolition waste. This contribution, given these predictions, will evaluate, with particular reference to glass as a secondary raw material from windows and doors, the possibility of its reuse for new mix designs in a circular economy perspective

Innovation scenarios in the glass industry in Europe

The following article is part of broader doctoral research conducted by the author, concerning innovation and technologies developed in the glass sector. Thus far, glass is one of the most widely used materials in the construction field. The extent of the use of this material is related to the innovations that have transformed the glass industry throughout history, from the industrial process to the final product. The proposed paper aims to retrace past and present innovations through the acknowledgment of contemporary demands with a view to possible future developments of glass, by analysing the current sectoral targets and the critical issues that claim for the development of new models, to reduce the environmental impact of the entire glass life cycle