Repurpose With Purpose

Construction involves various phases out of which demolition happens to be the first. Demolition of concrete structures including sidewalks, driveways, foundations, and more can leave you with a lot of debris to deal with. Although recycling concrete might not be one of the most conventional ways to deal with it, doing this can leave you with some surprising and impressive outcomes.

One of the reasons to recycle concrete is it can reduce your construction costs and also the amount of waste that you need to transport and disperse. If you are wondering how concrete is recycled then here is what you need to know.

Recycling Concrete

The leftover concrete or debris is put into an industrial crushing machine with large impactors and jaws to break up the concrete. Once the concrete has been broken up into manageable pieces, it is then added to a secondary impactor where it is scanned and all the dirt is removed. This process also helps to segregate small, medium, and large pieces of concrete.
Once this is done, there is an additional machine such as a water flotation separator and a magnet that helps remove certain elements from the concrete. Instead of pulverizing the concrete which is not always the best solution, segregation causes less contamination of bi-products.

Equipment Used To Recycle Concrete

If you have been seriously considering recycling concrete, then one of the best things to do is to evaluate various options to crush the concrete. It’s easier to transport smaller portions of concrete rather than a big chunk of it and it won’t always be a hindrance at the construction site. You can always move the debris from one place to another since it would be easier to transport.
When choosing the right equipment you should consider something that has a powerful electromagnet to help separate the steel from concrete. Water flotation equipment could also help in such a situation. Pieces of equipment that have a hydraulic stand will help fasten the process. It also makes it easier when the controls are automatic rather than manual. Types of equipment that have jaws and cones can help draw out large portions of concrete from the construction site and this makes the job easier.

Uses Of Old Concrete

The concrete you recycle has multiple uses and this includes creating new materials such as aggregates, paving material, and gravel.

Paving For Walkways And Driveways

Broken pieces of concrete can be skillfully laid to create a stable traffic surface that will allow rainwater to filter through. This reduces the amount of water that runs off and enables you to store more in the sewer system and also replenish groundwater.

Best For New Asphalt Paving

The process is called rubblization where all concrete pavements are broken and these pieces are used as a base layer for new asphalt pavement.
Apart from this, concrete can also be recycled and used as an aggregate for mixing new concrete, controlling stream bank erosion, landscaping mulch, and filling wire gabions, to name a few.