Recycled Aggregates - Why???

Aggregates are granular materials typically used in construction work. This includes materials such as sand, gravel, stone, concrete and bricks. The world is becoming more and more urbanised and due to this construction is ever-growing.

The main issue with construction is that the materials used have to come from somewhere and the most ecological and sustainable way to get these materials is by using recycled aggregates. When buildings are demolished the materials from the buildings have traditionally been sent to landfill, this leaves an ever growing impact on the environment. Those same materials can be crushed using an industrial jaw crusher to provide the aggregates needed for the next cycle of construction.

There are various reasons to use recycled aggregates and one of the most popular reasons is cost. Compared to quarried aggregates, recycled are typically valued at a reduced rate of 35-50%. Clearly this is a substantial saving and invariably has zero impact on the quality of your project. The reason for this lack of impact is simple, predominantly the aggregates that are used in construction form sub or base layers.

In the image above you will see recycled aggregates, in this case a GSB (Type 1 MOT). This project formed the base for paving and saved the customer around £2000.

According to MPA recycled and secondary aggregates are making an increasingly important contribution to the UK's needs..

By reducing demand on primary aggregates, they are helping the industry to become more sustainable - in other words, not using up assets today that our children may need tomorrow

The UK utilises 70 Mt of recycled and secondary materials in the GB aggregates market, this contributes 28% market share which is three times higher than the European average, highlighting the fact that the use of recycled and secondary materials in Britain is close to full potential. Recycled & Secondary Aggregates (mineralproducts.org)

Another important consideration are secondary materials which are derived from other industrial processes including:

• Colliery spoil - widely used for bulk fill

• China clay waste - used in some areas as mortar and concreting sands

• Power station ash (Fly Ash - FA) - used as a cementitious addition within Ready Mixed concrete and as an aggregate in block manufacture

• Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) from municipal solid waste incineration. It may contain glass, ceramic, brick, concrete, grit and stone in addition to clinker. It is generally used in construction applications to replace primary aggregates in utilized as fill material/sub-base, for road construction or in block manufacture

• Blast furnace slag from the iron and steel industries - used as aggregates and when ground to form GGBS as cementitious materials

• Slate

Collectively, these materials contribute significantly to the total aggregates demand across the whole UK Market.

Recycled & Secondary Aggregates (mineralproducts.org)