Recycle-KBE - Improving Sustainability and Strengthening Urban Green infrastructure through the Use of Substitute Building Materials in Reinforced Earth Wall Structures

One of the biggest challenges in the resource-efficient circular economy in terms of volume concerns the utilization of mineral substitute building materials (SBM). SBM are residues of industrial activities used instead of primary raw materials. The recycling or reuse of several SBM is still a technical and economic problem when returning to the material cycle. Low level reuse is therefore often the only possible option for subordinate construction tasks such as in road substructures. In the project, the feasibility of using SBM in high-quality civil engineering applications beyond road construction will be investigated, namely the use in above-ground constructions of Reinforced Earth Walls (REW). The project plans to completely replace the mineral components of a REW construction with SBM like concrete recycling material, industrial slags and railway ballast residues. The aim is to show that civil engineering structures built using SBM are just as efficient as constructions using primary building materials. Furthermore, the greening of the construction will be carried out in order to demonstrate future climate-improving alternatives for engineering structures in the urban environment. Also for the greening substrate mainly substitute building materials are to be used.