Mapei: recovering unused concrete from mixer lorries
Cleaning out cement mixer trucks: not all that easy...
When a cement mixer truck comes back to the plant, it has to be cleaned out. This involves a lot of water and generates a lot of waste.
The Italian company Mapei has come up with a product which brings leftover cement in mixer trucks back into the production cycle. Re-Con Zero is a two-component powder product made from polymers and inorganic composites which is added to the mixer truck and turns the remnants into useable granulate matter. This granulate is scooped out of the truck and dried, and considerably less water is then needed to clean the truck. The resulting aggregate can be used to partially replace natural aggregates when making concrete or to fully replace natural aggregates when making products such as mixed cements.
- Companies have to deal with 5 million m3 of returned concrete every year. Recovering this directly reduces the environmental impact of concrete plants and saves operating costs.
- The product has been used to supply admixtures for the concrete in a new carpark for the Panorama Park cable-car station in Izu Nagaoka, Japan.