Recycling process for concrete wall elements

Introduction

Concrete production alone contributes to almost 5% of the global CO2 emissions. Reducing cement production and recycling cement is crucial to reduce global warming. In 2018 152 666 tons of polluted concrete was deposited in Norway. The depositing of concrete with insulation and paint also contributes to polluting the ground water. To this date there has not been any reasonable process to stop the deposition of this material fraction. Berge is a patented recycling process for concrete wall elements with both paint and insulation.

About the company

Vartdal Plastindustri AS is plastic product manufacturer mainly focusing on making products of EPS (Also known as Styrofoam). They deliver products and packing within the furniture, food and building industry. Vartdal Plastindustri has always focused on reducing food waste and energy usage. In the last decade they have also started looking into recycling, and in 2020 they opened their own recycling plant in Ørsta, not far from their main office in Vartdal. They have 5 production locations around Norway and own their own logistics company.  

Th project started in 2015 with Vartdal Plast and Block Berge Bygg which together developed the first prototype of the recycling unit. The feedback from the users was that it was to slow and expensive to compete with deposition.

The development of a second prototype is now starting, and project needs help with several tasks.

Challenge

 How can we increase the speed of the process?

  How can we provide this as a service?