In recent years, the amount of waste materials increased by population growth. Storage of waste materials in landfilling areas becomes harmful for human health and causes environmental pollution over time. However, the capacity of landfilling areas is not sufficient when it is compared to the amount of produced waste. The major elements contained in raw materials that used in cement industry could be basically sorted as: CaO, SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3. The presence of these oxides in the wastes allows them to be easily used as raw materials, substitution or mineral additives in cement production process. It is important that not only the natural resources but also environment is protected by using of these waste materials in several industries. The cements, produced by using such materials in the cement industry, are called eco-cement. Clinkers, which have a different composition than Ordinary Portland Cement clinker, can also be produced as eco cement one of those which is Calcium Sulpho aluminate (CSA) cement. The main reason why they are named as eco-cement is that they can be produced at low temperatures (around 1200-1300 °C) and/or waste can be used. CSA cement has its own advantages as lower CO2 emissions compared with Ordinary Portland cement, lower embodied energy, reduction in consumption of natural resources by substituting a variety of industrial by-products and high resistance to sulfate attack. This cement has been considered to be included into the cement portfolio of different commercial products, with high interest from both the environmental and functional point of view. Other eco-cement is blended cement which has advantage in terms of lowering the clinker content and natural raw material amount in the blended cement thus reducing the environmental impacts. In FISSAC Project, TCMA works on producing of two types of eco-cements; CSA cement and blended cement. CSA cement was produced by using aluminum saline slags, glass waste, ceramic waste and ladle furnace slag with limestone and synthetic gypsum within the raw meal at pilot scale. It is very important to produce CSA cement which is a limited production in Turkey and Europe especially by using waste and to reach the desired technical specifications. The FISSAC project, which will be an example of the widespread use of CSA cement which is not widely produced but is especially valuable in terms of environmental and technical aspects, is very important in this respect. Blended cement was produced by using ladle furnace slag, glass and ceramic waste materials as mineral additives to the ordinary Portland cement at pilot and industrial scale as around 300 tons. One of the most important outputs of FISSAC Project is that produced blended cement will be used for 50 meters concrete pavement by using with electric arc furnace slag (as aggregate) and also ceramic and glass waste materials (as mineral admixture). FISSAC project, with industrial symbiosis approach by using waste materials belonging to different industries, offers us the opportunity to produce eco-cement and construction of concrete pavement.

The history of ceramics begins with the oldest civilisations. The first ceramics were pottery objects, artefacts and art/religious pieces. They were made from clay as raw material and transformed into a durable material by the action of heat. Later ceramics were glazed and fired to create a coloured, smooth surface. Ceramics now include different type of products: • Structural ceramics: bricks, pipes, floor, wall and roof tiles • Refractories: kiln linings, gas fire radiants, steel and glass making crucibles • Whitewares: tableware, cookware, pottery products and sanitary ware • Technical ceramics: engineering, advanced, special, and fine ceramics The EU ceramics industry is a world leader in producing uniquely designed high-quality ceramic products such as structural ceramics, refractories, whitewares, and technical ceramics. The EU ceramic industry, with a global annual production value of around € 28 billion, provides over 200,000 direct jobs in companies (80% of them being SMEs). The ceramic tile industry constitutes the biggest sub-sector in terms of turnover among European general ceramic industries with around 1,200 enterprises and over 600,000 people employed, mainly located in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, UK, France, Romania, and Portugal. Ceramic tiles have always been widely used due to their durability, technical properties and visual richness. A ceramic material is an inorganic, non-metallic solid — often crystalline oxide, nitride or carbide material — prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Generally they are fragile, hard, strong in compression, weak in shearing and tension, and can withstand very high temperatures or sudden temperatures changes. Glazed ceramics can withstand damp and chemical and biological agents, with their hardness and scratch resistance remarkably reinforced. Ceramic products are obtained making a wide use of natural raw materials like clay materials, feldspathic fluxes and/or quartzous sands and complementary raw materials like talc, carbonates, wollastonite, zircon, borates, lithium minerals, etc. These include the main body forming materials, involving high tonnages, and various additives, binders and decorative surface-applied materials which are used on a lesser scale. KERABEN GRUPO’s commitment for producing environmentally-friendly and socially responsible ceramic tiles motivated the company to join ther FISSAC project and to explore the incorporation of several secondary raw materials to protect the environment while seeking to enhance the competitiveness of its products. The responsible use of natural resources and the environmental sustainability in ceramic processing are differential aspect that must take an increasing relevance in architecture nowadays. KERABEN knows that and wants to develop new ceramic concepts where sustainability, technical properties, and reasonable cost meet societal needs. It is also worth highlighting efforts by ceramic tile manufacturers to control the generation of waste in order to keep it to a minimum, together with the search for and application of good environmental practices that can reduce associated environmental impacts, not only by applying them to waste generated as a result of maintenance, packaging, sorting, or office activities but also through their application to other spheres. The industry is currently researching the recycling options this material offers.

Wood Polymer Composites (WPC) were first developed in the USA in the early 1990’s as an alternative to timber used in applications where durability, rot and infestation resistance were required. Currently, WPC is predominantly extruded across the world to manufacture hollow or solid decking boards and is predominately replacing tropical wood, but it is also used for railings, fences, landscaping timbers, cladding and outdoor furniture for parks and recreational areas. For these applications, a wood-polymer composite material is also considered to be more environmentally friendly, as it requires less maintenance than the alternatives of solid wood treated with preservatives or solid wood of rot-resistant species. WPCs are manufactured from a mix of finely ground wood particles [Wood Flour] and heated polymer resin. In the case of Ecodek, both wood flour and polymer are recycled. Some WPC therefore, have an almost 100% recycled composition and products made from WPC are capable of being fully recycled at the end of their working lives, and be formed onto the same or different products. Few other materials are able to claim such strong environmental and sustainability credentials. WPC products have many advantages over comparable timber alternatives. A good quality WPC will not erode and is resistant to rot and attack by wood-boring insects etc. It requires minimal maintenance, does not crack or split, has excellent workability and can be shaped and cut using conventional woodworking tools. WPC can also be readily curved with the application of heat to form strong, arching contours. FISSAC represents a great opportunity for Ecodek not only towards identification of potential new materials that could help improving product properties, but also with regards to setting quality requirements for incoming recycled materials. At present only one type of recycle polymer is used in our formulations but, as part of the FISSAC project, other recycled polymers will be investigated. This might open opportunities to new products and hence new markets, due to the different properties achieved. Another area that FISSAC is being very beneficial to Ecodek is on the quality assurance on incoming materials. Due to the basics of recycled materials, these are inherently variable and hence quality assurance needs greater attention, in order to ensure products reach our customers at the same high level quality as when prime materials are used. FISSAC is helping on stabilising this quality system too.

Nowadays, industrial symbiosis is one of the most important assessed approaches within the context of sustainability in many countries. The cement and concrete sectors play a critical role in implementing industrial symbiosis applications. In an environment where raw material resources are beginning to decrease every day, sustainable economic development cannot be achieved without protecting environmental resources. To achieve these goals, one of the FISSAC Project’s main objectives is to produce eco-cement and green concrete. When cement and concrete is made from waste gathered from different industries or recycled material, they are called eco-cement and green concrete, respectively. In this sense, the FISSAC model will be a very good example for industrial symbiosis implementation. In the FISSAC Project, the first act is determining the formulation of eco-cement that has the optimum features in various aspects. After that, green concrete will be produced by mixing eco-cement, electric arc furnace slag as aggregate and glass & ceramic wastes as mineral additives. For extending the usage of these eco-friendly products, the validation procedure will be conducted by checking the conformity values. Demonstrating the repeatability of the model to be created in the FISSAC project, waste will be taken from similar industries situated in different European countries and will be produced with the same formulae and mixture design. This way, transportation and related costs – the most important parameter for companies in the construction sector – will no longer be a problem and this model may also prevent the decrease of the raw materials. At the end of the project, a 50 m long concrete walkway will be constructed as a case study, which will be a good example of a possible end result using industrial symbiosis if we think about the recent increase in the use and application of concrete roads. Today, sustainability is one of the major concerns of the world. Therefore, every industry should increase their responsibilities regarding to the issues of sustainability. The cement and concrete sector has an important position concerning raw materials and energy consumption. The industries in this sector have to pay great attention not only to cost, profitability, and risk factors, but also to the environmental and social effects created during these production phases. The FISSAC project will act as a test platform through which guidelines can be created in how to operate these industries while paying attention to these factors.

Each year in Europe an estimated 2.25 mega tons of flat glass waste is generated from building refurbishment, demolition and also offcuts when windows and facades are manufactured. Although glass can be infinitely recycled back to glass, most of the glass waste from construction and demolition ends up as aggregate in roads, or in landfill. Flat glass may be just a small percentage by weight of construction and demolition waste – but the potential carbon dioxide (CO2) savings to be made by recycling it are big. Each tonne of virgin raw materials replaced by waste glass (cullet) saves 230kg of CO21 – so re-melting cullet to make new glazing, containers or fibre glass is much better, environmentally, than putting it into roads or landfill. Glass manufacturers already use all the cullet they can– and want more. But to go into a glass furnace, cullet cannot be contaminated by materials such as stones or bricks. Currently it’s rare that glass from refurbishment and demolition sites is collected in a way that keeps it free of contamination and suitable for re-melt. That’s one thing we’re setting out to change through the FISSAC project. Glass that can’t be used to make new glass can still be recycled to replace virgin raw material in other building materials, with economic and environmental benefits. That’s why the FISSAC project is also trialling addition of post-consumer glass to cement products to make construction materials. To increase flat glass recycling in Europe we need two things: cost-effective ways to collect and transport waste – as far as possible without contamination, and increased awareness that flat glass can and should be recycled, and how to do it. British Glass and Glass Technology Services lead the FISSAC work on glass. They have been reviewing existing studies and working with stakeholders to better understand current practice and barriers. This has helped create a flat glass flow diagram for the UK. From this foundation they’ll be working with stakeholders across the supply chain to identify how much glass is going where, and finding the best points for intervention.