Circular project concrete Port of Antwerp

Eliminate legal and economic bottlenecks around circular building materials

Port of Antwerp wants to design and build the maritime infrastructure for the Extra Container Capacity Antwerp (ECA) project in the most sustainable way possible. As a result of these major infrastructure works, considerable soil surpluses will be released in the Antwerp region between now and 2030. With this surplus soil, Port of Antwerp wants to make project concrete: custom-made concrete where known certified compositions are abandoned.

However, there are a number of general legal and economic bottlenecks and issues that block the valorization of mixed sands (and by extension recycled and artificial aggregates) in project concrete. The intention is to find solutions to these and apply them in a Proof of Concept: the design/tendering of the second tidal dock that is part of the ECA project. Indeed, in that project the concrete volume is sufficiently large to define project concrete using mixed sands/recycled and artificial aggregates. The strength and durability of the project concrete will be demonstrated using a proprietary test program prescribed for the project.

The second focus of the project is to further build trust with all chain partners involved in the valorization of circular materials in project concrete. For this purpose, Port of Antwerp plans various consultation moments, both to expose pain points and to gain trust.

In addition, Port of Antwerp will also organise consultation forums with all members of the working groups that are disposing of surplus soil and with the Flemish Project Team of ECA.