"An overarching European concrete agreement is a good idea"

"The construction and commissioning industry is like an oil tanker. It takes an extremely long time before the course actually changes when a new direction is required." Speaking is Willy Goossens, the driving force behind the Flemish Concrete Agreement. "We are bound in Belgium, but in some areas also in Europe, by laws or rules that date back to the last century. Whereas we should take initiatives right now that enable innovations in our sector and give them a fair chance of success."

For Willy Goossens, making the concrete sector more sustainable is about much more than just CO2. Since the 1990s, he has been involved in the recycling of construction and demolition waste through FPRG (Federation of Producers of Recycling Granules). From that background, Goossens became inspired by the Dutch Concrete Agreement which includes the requirement that by 2030 all concrete released from demolition must be reused in new concrete. Besides encouraging the reuse of building materials and building components and paying even more attention to circularity, he also attaches great importance to reducing direct CO2 emissions. Smarter use of materials, together with the changing climate, are the two defining themes Goossens used to get the concrete sector excited about embracing the Flemish Concrete Agreement as a sustainability initiative.

In the now published Circular Concrete Agreement Flanders, the ambitions are clearly formulated and aligned with the European Green Deal and the Flemish Energy and Climate Plan. From the material perspective, the ambition is to generate 50% less CO2 emissions by 2030 and to continue this to 0% by 2050. In addition, all suitable concrete demolition waste must be reused in landfill, road or precast concrete. Ambitions have also been set for the application of concrete. By 2030, buildings and structures must be designed so that concrete elements can be maximally reused and the most appropriate sustainable concrete mix must be used for each application.

"It is good that the industry both in the Netherlands and in Belgium is now acting jointly in making the sector more sustainable, but it would be better if all these initiatives were turned into an overarching European concrete agreement," Goossens said. "Possibly even global because the underlying values are in fact universal. Europe can play a role in several areas. Think for example of scarce raw materials such as construction sand or certain binders. That is why I welcome the signal the European Commission gave last month to start mining and recycling more critical raw materials within the EU itself in order to meet its needs in the coming years and to legislate the approach to rare raw materials for the EU." Goossens said Europe can also play a role in Ecodesign by legislating that designs use materials that are directly reusable or reusable through recycling.

Despite the fact that no individual major cement producer has yet signed the agreement, the Flemish cement industry is now becoming increasingly convinced that things must change. Indeed, the professional federation Febelcem has signed the agreement. In Belgium, the introduction of alternative binders was held back for years by the traditional actors within the sector. This has been broken partly through the determination of one of the parties that signed both the Dutch and Flemish concrete agreements, Ecocem. Concrete in Belgium must have the Benor seal of approval. This covers a builder's liability and makes a building insurable. Meanwhile, limestone flour is already allowed within the Benor standard and the binder factor (K-value) for granulated ground blast furnace slag has also been set at 1. The cement industry is moving more and more along because primary raw materials cannot be mined in both the Netherlands and Flanders. The border is with Wallonia where there are numerous porphyry and limestone quarries. So there development and progress is locked in.

The underlying problem, according to Goossens, is that different regions have different rules. "In Wallonia, we cannot even use granulates in road construction because the requirements are formulated at the level new product. In the Brussels region, concrete rubble is transported to Flanders to be granulated. In Flanders it has thus become raw material. However, it cannot go back to Brussels because there it is qualified as waste. It brings to light the tension between the various ministries and organizations in the environmental field, on the one hand, and the construction managers, on the other. Therefore, it is difficult for us to develop enthusiasm within the government to sign the concrete agreement. And we desperately need that government. They need to co-initiate to facilitate more and easier practical applications of new developments. Think of injecting CO2 into concrete, carbonizing sludge or alternative binders based on blast furnace or copper slag."

The Flemish concrete agreement has created momentum. According to Goossens, it is time to put our money where our mouth is. "We are trying to develop enough energy within the living lab circular concrete to realize our ambitions and get everyone on board. If insufficient momentum develops within that or, to my mind, not fast enough, then we will switch and accelerate. Then we will bring people together, like-minded people who can cause this. Our sector now understands this, but it is important that we get the whole market on board, especially politicians. Ultimately, they set the course. It's up to us to alert the course-setters in time to icebergs and other obstacles and clear the shipping lane."