Amid Rising Construction Prices, Producer Klabin Innovates by Using Effluent Sludge to Make Bricks and Reduce Carbon Emissions

Written by Valdemar Medeiros

Published on 23/09/2020 at 09:35

Tijolos de lodo feitos pela Klabin

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In 2018, Klabin’s construction project aimed at carbon reduction was responsible for the reuse of 25 tons of solid waste per month

Concerns about the environment are a recurring theme on the agenda of various sectors of society, especially in construction. Initiatives to promote a circular and low-carbon economy not only reduce the generation of solid waste and effluents and increase their reuse but are also at the forefront of discussions among companies seeking more sustainable management practices.

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Klabin, which is committed to incorporating these solutions into its operations, from forestry to packaging, has a series of projects for reusing its waste. One of these projects uses the sludge created in the wastewater treatment process to make bricks for use by the construction industry.

Klabin’s Rio Negro Unit in Paraná

The project, launched in 2018, was developed by the Environmental team of Klabin’s Rio Negro Unit in Paraná, with support from the corporate teams of Sustainability and Research and Development. As a result, 25 tons of waste per month began to receive new applications, being reused even in the company’s own projects.

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Klabin Aims to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Construction

In addition to a more environmentally correct waste disposal, more responsible solutions in various sectors of the economy represent fundamental actions for mitigating climate change.

In construction, for instance, according to research, the use of concrete currently accounts for 8% of carbon emissions. The search for alternatives that cause lower environmental impacts is aligned with the low-carbon policies increasingly adopted in various countries.

Another important initiative also aimed at construction is carried out at the Waste Treatment Station of the Puma Unit, which is also responsible for treating waste from the Monte Alegre Unit, which is transformed into blocks for paving or drainage, and can also be used in construction projects.

Amid Rising Construction Prices, Producer Klabin Innovates by Using Effluent Sludge to Make Bricks and Reduce Carbon Emissions

In 2018, Klabin’s construction project aimed at carbon reduction was responsible for the reuse of 25 tons of solid waste per month

Read Also

Klabin’s Rio Negro Unit in Paraná

Klabin Aims to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Construction

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Amid Rising Construction Prices, Producer Klabin Innovates by Using Effluent Sludge to Make Bricks and Reduce Carbon Emissions

In 2018, Klabin’s construction project aimed at carbon reduction was responsible for the reuse of 25 tons of solid waste per month

Read Also

Klabin’s Rio Negro Unit in Paraná

Klabin Aims to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Construction

With billions in loans, China is rebuilding Nigeria’s railway network from scratch, abandoning the British colonial tracks that have turned to scrap and creating a corridor of over 1,300 km to take the load off the roads of Africa’s largest economy.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Forget petroleum-based asphalt: a Scottish company transforms 684,000 plastic bottles into one kilometer of road that is 60% more resistant and up to 10 times more durable, and the technology has already started replacing traditional asphalt in more than 30 countries.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

Austrian engineers have developed an inflatable concrete technology that transforms flat slabs into domes using only air pressure, eliminating scaffolding and temporary forms, and potentially changing the way bridges, tunnels, and curved roofs are constructed worldwide.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

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