Aertssen Group - Futurn's RE|CORE Project

Circular demolition closes building cycles

As much as 30% to 40% of waste in Belgium comes from the construction sector. Accounting for 20 million tonnes of asphalt rubble, stone dust, hazardous waste, etc. every year. What if we reused that ‘waste’ in (new) construction projects? Construction company Aertssen Group shows in the RE|CORE Project how, thanks to circular demolition, it closes building cycles.

Recovering the Recor site
In 2021, Futurn and Immopro bought the former Recor site, where the factory halls and office buildings of furniture manufacturer Recor once stood. Aertssen Infra and Aertssen Kranen set their sights on a circular and sustainable business campus there on their behalf. Instead of demolishing, they chose to almost completely ‘dismantle’ the old buildings, reusing and recycling the old building materials.

Reuse in own project
Many building materials and interior elements were given a new function on the business campus. For example, Aertssen Group broke down all stony materials to use them later as foundations. Even doors, furniture, wooden panels and the well-known ‘RECOR’ letters were given a new place. As the steel structures were still sufficiently solid, they too remained. The construction company will use the rest of the steel beams in other projects, just like the bricks, roofing and natural stone recovered from the old buildings.

Aerated concrete becomes cat litter
What does not get a new place in the building or elsewhere, does see the light of day again in a different way. For instance, Aertssen Group recycles the wood from the constructions to sheet material. And the aerated concrete from the old factory halls is even used as filling in ... litter boxes!

Aertssen Group already reused 8.5% of construction and demolition waste from the former Recor site. By applying the circular approach to all its demolition projects, the company aims to at least double that percentage by 2030.