A centralized body forming policies, educating the industry, and incentivizing the innovators, can fuel the end objective of decarbonization and sustainability.
Master Builders Solutions - Nilotpol KAR, Managing Director
India is the second largest cement producer and consumer in the world after China. The cement industry is conducting extensive research to reduce CO2 emissions. Only conventional technical progress such as thermal efficiency, fuel switching, and reduction of clinker-to-cement ratio, will not suffice and solve the bigger challenge. For consumers like contractors, developers, and manufacturers, it is always beneficial to replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with Portland Pozzolana cement (PPC), and also replace OPC with supplementary cement to optimize the use of cement in concrete. This reduction of cement input in concrete will change the value creation along the value chain of cement and concrete and support the larger good of decarbonization of the sector.
Guidelines for reuse of construction waste will promote best practices
Construction and demolition waste account for a significant part of the solid waste taking up landfills on a global scale. A considerable portion of the waste generated by the construction industry has substantial residual value, and therefore waste management and sustainability principles and techniques should be applied. Reuse of demolition waste like concrete aggregate in concrete is very much possible now and some countries have already implemented the same.
Lately, there has been a lot of research on utilization of bottom fly ash - an unutilized resource from thermal power plants. Bottom fly-ash can prove to be very beneficial when replaced as fine aggregate in concrete. Such initiatives in waste management can contribute significantly to decarbonization and sustainability.
Sustainable construction means building with renewable and recyclable resources and materials. During construction, care must be taken to reduce waste and energy consumption wherever possible and protect the natural environment around the site. A centralized body or authority to pay attention to frame guidelines for the utilization of construction waste can help promote best practices. Today it’s possible to use and recycle aggregate in construction but the major challenge is to process the segregated construction demolition waste. We don’t have any infrastructure as well as any guidelines for demolition and segregating construction waste for processing and conversion.
Initiatives for sustainable construction
As a responsible company, we always support and drive products and initiatives to help the construction industry towards the goal of decarbonization and sustainable construction. We have initiated use of bottom fly ash in the construction industry as a replacement for fine aggregate. Today, we have an ample reserve of bottom fly ash from almost all thermal power plants in the form of pond ash. With the help of construction experts and government bodies, we want to put forward use of bottom fly ash in PQC concrete, in river protection works, as well as in all structural and non-structural precast elements. We have completed a PQC road which is now under observation for durability. This initiative will help us in minimizing thermal power process waste like bottom ash as well as help minimize use of valuable resources like natural sand and crushed manufactured sand.
