Sand – From linear to circular use
Prof. Dirk E. Hebel
Professorship of Sustainable Construction, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Circular economy: Glass recycling
To reduce our dependence on sand as a finite resource, the demand can basically only be changed by introducing a true circular economy or by substituting sand as a raw material.
Circular economy: Concrete recycling
Substitution
Substitution is a radical approach to ultimately replace sand as a raw material. A number of research approaches worldwide are dealing with the question of alternative aggregates in concrete mixtures, be they organic in nature or even obtained from waste. [2] However, all approaches quickly reveal the limits of what is feasible when comparing the compressive strengths of such mixtures with sand. Newer approaches are found through the use of biological adhesives. Be it bacteria or mycelia, a new biological revolution seems to be on the horizon, which can certainly be compared and combined with the digital revolution, as will become apparent in the other contributions to this science blog
[1] See also: Delestrac, Denis. SAND WARS. Documentary. LA COMPAGNIE DES TAXI-BROUSSE, 2013. http://www.sandwars.com/.
[2] See also: Hebel, Dirk E., Marta Wisniewska and Felix Heisel (2017). Building from Waste, Birkhäuser
In an older version, this article was published in 2014 at ETH Zürich, FCL.
Further information about the author
Prof. Dirk E. Hebel
Professor of Sustainable Construction KIT Karlsruhe and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture KIT
web: www.nb.ieb.kit.edu