Environmental footprint study of mortar,render and plaster formulation / Studie über die Umweltauswirkungen von Mörtel

A comparative environmental assessment study focusing on the stages of mortar production and carbonation through hardening has been conducted by the European Lime Association in collaboration with mortar producers from various EU countries on 17 formulations of mortars, renders and plasters. The results of the “cradle‐to‐gate” for mortar and renders indicated that: There are no significant differences between products with low and high lime contents and depending on the lime content in the products, the contribution of the hydrated lime to the different environmental indicators can range between 0 % and about 20 %. However, there are clear differences in the environmental footprints of gypsum or lime based plasters. Based on the plaster composition investigated in this study, it appears that lime based plasters have the lowest environmental footprint for some of the impacts (primary energy consumption, abiotic depletion and water eutrophication), whereas for the remaining indicators the gypsum based plasters have the lowest environmental footprint. Depending on the lime content in the plasters, the contribution of the hydrated lime to the different environmental indicators can vary in a wide range, i. e. between 0 and 40 %. The differences in the environmental impacts of mortars, renders and plasters produced in integrated or non‐integrated mortar plants are generally rather small The lime carbonation process lowers the overall carbon footprint during the first period of the use phase of the mortars in buildings. This impact shall be taken into account in holistic LCA studies. If not, this leads to a wrong interpretation of the environmental impact of the mortars.     

Aufbaukörnungen aus gipshaltigem Mauerwerkbruch – Teil 1: Untersuchungen im Labormaßstab

The possibility of using heterogeneous construction waste such as masonry rubble as a raw material for the production of lightweight aggregates similar to expanded clays or even pumice has already been reported earlier. This approach has been consistently pursued. As a current aspect, the extent to which gypsum-containing masonry rubble is also suitable as a raw material was investigated. This not only avoids (expensive) landfilling of this material, but at the same time makes a contribution to at least partially filling the “gypsum gap” created by the elimination of flue gas desulfurization gypsum. The first part of this publication reports on laboratory-scale tests. The second part focuses on testing the process in the pilot plant.     

Aufbaukörnungen aus gipshaltigem Mauerwerkbruch – Teil 2: Untersuchungen im Pilotmaßstab

Heterogeneous construction waste such as masonry rubble has potential as a raw material for the production of lightweight aggregates similar to expanded clays or even pumice. In the present paper, the suitability of feedstocks with considerable gypsum contents was investigated in a pilot plant. Based on the results, initial technological statements could be made. According to these, energetic advantages can be expected in comparison with lightweight aggregates made from expanded clays.