Over the last few years, environmental impact has continued to become more and more important, and as more impacts on the environment continue to be discovered as a result of continuous work from a range of industries including the construction sector, solutions to this ever-growing problem continue to arise. So with that being the case, it’s not surprising that an increasing number of recycled material options are becoming available, and with this being the case Burlington Aggregates are continuing to see an increase in the number of customers coming to Burlington for their recycled materials too. One of the most common recycled materials in the construction industry is concrete, but should you be using recycled concrete in your construction projects too? We’re going to run through the process that is creating recycled concrete for use in construction as well as other areas, as well as highlight the most notable difference between the creation of both new and recycled concrete to help you decide which is best for you.
When it comes to the process of creating recycled concrete, this involves first collecting the materials from demolition sites. These materials must be completely concrete and free of any foreign materials like wood, paper and any other foreign materials, however, rebar fragments can be gathered as this material can be removed later by heavy-duty magnets. After this stage is finished, the concrete which was gathered is then crushed and all leftover pieces of concrete are sorted by size and filtered to have any other foreign materials removed. Once this process is complete, the concrete is then ready to be used again in construction as well as other projects.
Compared to the process which is required to gather the materials for new concrete (using fresh materials from a quarry), making recycled concrete consumes significantly less energy and resources, and has less of an impact on the environment. We hope this article has been informative. If you have any further questions or queries about the uses of and benefits of recycled concrete, you can call us using our online form, call us on 01229 839 966, or email our team at office@burlingtonaggregates.co.uk.