Ever bought eco-friendly soap at the supermarket because you felt it was the right thing to do, but then question how eco-friendly it really is? You’re justified in your concerns – many products claim to be green without any concrete evidence. Pun intended. This phenomenon is known as ‘greenwashing’, and it happens more often than you’d think.
Recycled concrete is one product where you don’t have to worry about being greenwashed: it’s proven to be incredibly environmentally friendly and has a myriad of scientific evidence to back it up.
Here, we’ll provide the evidence that recycled concrete is an environmentally-friendly way to go, without compromising the quality of your concrete.
Reduces carbon emissions
One of the major ways that recycled concrete is more environmentally friendly than virgin aggregate is in the reduction of carbon emissions. The cement industry contributes to an astonishing eight percent of carbon emissions world-wide: a significant impact on our climate. Recycled aggregates, however, contribute over 50% less CO2 than the process required to create virgin aggregates. While newly extracted quarry aggregates produce between 6900g and 7300g of CO2 equivalent per tonne of concrete, recycled aggregate produces just 3000g of CO2equivalent per tonne.
Spares the earth’s resources
These figures don’t even account for the fact that each time virgin aggregates are extracted, we lose a small part of the earth’s resources. Mining the components of virgin aggregate have been proven to pose devastating effects on local environments, affecting native flora and fauna, with potential health risks to local residents and even polluting waterways like rivers and creeks.
Silica dust, for example, is 100 times smaller than a grain of sand, it’s easy yet incredibly harmful to inhale. According to the Cancer Council, it is estimated that 230 people develop lung cancer each year as a result of past exposure to silica dust at work.
Recycled concrete aggregates require no new materials to be mined, sparing the earth’s resources and local flora, fauna and inhabitants from being affected.
Prevents extra landfill
And on top of this, recycling concrete prevents extra landfill from being created. Concrete products take 50 years to degrade when they go into landfill, meaning we produce far more concrete in that time than the rate at which it degrades. Recycling concrete spares it from going into landfill and gives the earth’s resources a second life.
So, yeah – short answer is that recycled concrete is extremely environmentally friendly! Recycled Concrete Products are proud to deliver the numerous benefits of recycled aggregate to businesses across Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter Valley. Premium quality recycled aggregates at discount prices are what you get at Recycled Concrete Products, keeping customers happy and the environment cleaner. Visit Recycled Concrete Products at West Gosford and Tomago for all the materials you need for your next concrete project.