Western Sydney University has announced the successful creation of recycled concrete injected with carbon dioxide
Furthering research into recycled concrete products that can aid in the reduction of construction waste, Western Sydney University has developed a new recycled concrete product that stores carbon dioxide.
Professor Vivian Tam, director of the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering, has spent the last eight years as one of the co-inventors developing CO2 Concrete.
“More than a third of all the waste generated in Australia each year comes from the construction and demolition sector, so I have been passionate for the last 20 years about researching how we can reuse the material and save it from going to landfill,” Tam says.
“With CO2 Concrete, we put crushed recycled concrete into a pressurised chamber and inject it with carbon dioxide, which allows it to be as strong and durable as virgin concrete, while reducing carbon emissions from concrete production.”
Pouring test slabs at Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury campus in 2019 and Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre in 2022, the pioneering product could soon be available for commercial use.
“We are currently engaging in high levels of discussion with concrete suppliers about commercialisation, with the hope that CO2 Concrete will be able to sell in the market very soon,” Tam says.
“It has many benefits, with sustainability being a major one, so it is exciting to have interest from those in the construction industry.”
While those discussions continue, Tam also has her attention on developing another recycled product called Het-Crete, with the use of environmentally friendly chemicals.
“CO2 Concrete is from clean concrete waste but Het-Crete is mixed aggregate from construction and demolition waste, which is more difficult to recycle.
“This will be the world’s first build material for high grade construction, so we are researching the processes we can use to speed up this new product development. This will expand the life cycle of the product to benefit the planet.”
Professor Tam received over $1.1 million from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship, to fund this research over four years.