An industrial technology that will create a range of innovative structural concrete and bituminous concrete made from construction waste and innovative industrial by-products will change the paradigm of construction in Portugal in environmental matters, dst, a dstgroup construction company, announced today.

According to the company, the goal is to minimize the use of natural resources and energy-intensive products in its buildings of the future, replacing them with innovative materials, thanks to a pioneering technology that is developing, since 2020, under the CirMat (CIRcular aggregates for sustainable road and building MATerials) that results from dst's partnership with the Instituto Superior Técnico, the University of Minho and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

"Only in this way we can drastically reduce the use of natural resources and energy-intensive products in the construction sector, enhancing the reintroduction of waste and by-products in dst's value chain," ensures Mafalda Rodrigues, project manager.

The project also involves the creation of all the manufacturing processes associated with the industrial scale, as well as the elaboration of Environmental Product Declarations that allow to demonstrate, in an unequivocal way, the mitigation of environmental impacts related to the developed products, throughout their life cycle.

CirMat is a project financed in 85% by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism - EEA Grants, under the EEA Grants Environment program, in the amount of approximately 500 thousand euros.

"With this project we want to implement a paradigm shift in the construction sector by applying the principles of circular economy. Construction is considered one of the industries that contributes most to greenhouse gas emissions, and it is urgent to change this reality. Only in this way will we achieve harmony and balance between nature and human activity", concludes Mafalda Rodrigues.

Recall that the CirMat project began in September 2020 and is now in its final phase, with the results to be known very soon at NTNU, in Norway, and presented on May 5 at dst, in Braga.

CirMat was, in the last three years, referenced by EEA Grants under the theme "Towards a more circular construction sector in Portugal" and "How the EEA and Norway Grants contribute to the EU Green Deal".