First circular pavement in Ghent
Ghent is the first Belgian city to have a circular pavement. It concerns a strip of 110m² in front of the Artevelde University.
Circular clinkers
The pavement in Ghent has been laid with carbstone clinkers. These are made with the carbstone technology, developed by VITO and Orbix. This technology makes it possible to produce building materials by reacting with two waste products: metal slag (a residual product from steel production) and CO2.
What makes these clinkers circular? Because they use waste materials from waste streams that in turn become raw materials again. Moreover, no traditional cement or concrete products are used for production. As a result, the bricks absorb even more CO2 during production than is released during manufacture. This ensures a much lower impact on the environment.
And it doesn't stop with bricks. With this new technology, a range of products can be produced, with the same technical properties as conventional concrete products. The bricks do have a slightly browner colour than traditional grey concrete bricks.
Circular city
The pavement is the result of the Flemish project 'Stapsteen naar een circulaire stad', in which partners VITO, Orbix, UGent, Flanders Circular and the City of Ghent investigated the use of sustainable materials in the urban environment, with the intention of using them as building materials.
The project provided insights into the technical side of the development and insights into the possible obstacles/opportunities for the introduction of sustainable technology.
