The current paper reviews the concept of the production of high-added value construction materials produced as part of a zero waste enhanced landfill mining process. The calorific fraction of the excavated waste is concentrated to produce a solid recovered fuel, which is introduced to a gasification/vitrification process to be converted to a synthetic gas, a slag and a metal alloy. The slag is subsequently cooled to produce a glass. The glass is milled and blended with an alkaline silicate solution to produce an inorganic polymer binder. The binder can be used as an alternative for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in concrete to produce precast construction materials, such as pavers, tiles and wall elements. Pilot industrial production and testing of the durability, environmental footprint and economic feasibility of the process are currently being performed. Traditional OPC based production lines can be used, and when comparing with OPC based concrete, materials with similar to improved properties (e.g. higher hardening rate and higher final strength) can be produced.
Full reference: L. Machiels, et al., Transforming Enhanced Landfill Mining Derived Gasification/Vitrification Glass into Low-Carbon Inorganic Polymer Binders and Building Products, J. Sustain. Metall. (2016). doi:10.1007/s40831-016-0105-1. Download from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40831-016-0105-1
