ALLU and MAPEI in concrete recycling co-operation

Companies working together to transform returned concrete into high-quality recycled aggregate  

ALLU MAPEI Circulus is a highly mobile and industrially efficient method for transforming returned concrete into a high-quality recycled aggregate. The system is aimed at large and medium-sized ready-mixed concrete producers or cement/concrete recycling companies who wish to reduce the costs associated with returned waste concrete. The system also greatly reduces the amount of wash-out sludge from concrete truckmixers.

According to ALLU and MAPEI, savings of up to tens of Euro’s per cubic metre of concrete produced are said to be achievable through reductions in both landfill costs and virgin aggregate costs.

The system itself is simple and requires minimal investment in MAPEI’s Re-con Zero chemical and an ALLU Transformer. Using Re-Con Zero, the returned wet concrete is transformed into a dry granulate, whereupon the ALLU Transformer is used to process the hardened lumps and screen them into specified aggregate sizes suitable for recycling in fresh concrete.

Concrete manufacturers can use between 5% and 30% of the recycled aggregate in new concrete, resulting in significant savings in production costs.

According to ALLU and MAPEI, the Circulus system can assist the concrete industry’s drive towards sustainability in concrete manufacturing. Global consumption of concrete is around 23 billion tonnes per year and it is estimated that approximately 2% of all concrete is returned to the producer, much of it ending up in landfill.

With an estimated 5% percent of all man-made CO2 emissions resulting from cement and concrete production, the 2% (460 million tonnes) of concrete that is produced and returned results in some 53 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissons. With ALLU MAPEI Circulus, there is an opportunity to save up to 96% of these emissions.