Big-Bagging building waste for reuse

Xella and Interzero close the resource loop for Ytong and Multipor scrap.

Together with Duisburg-based manufacturer Xella Deutschland GmbH, Interzero has developed a simple and effective model to close the resource loop for Ytong cellular concrete and Multipor mineral wool board. Much too valuable to throw away: for many years, Ytong cellular concrete and Multipor mineral wool board have been popular with builders as wall construction and insulation materials – especially as thermal insulators. On most sites, scrap created during building work – although only in small amounts – nonetheless ends up in the construction debris container as waste. This not only means disposal costs for the builder but also the loss of the scrap as a raw material.

"We benefit in a number of ways from the Big-Bag model: we avoid waste, close the recyclable material loop and help our customers save on the costs of disposal."

Clemens Aberle Head of Product Management Xella

The solution: sort and collect scrap into Big-Bags

Looking for an ecologically and economically beneficial solution for its customers, building material manufacturer Xella contacted Interzero. The joint solution developed was as simple as it was effective: apart from the material itself, Xella’s customers can order a “site set” consisting of Big-Bags, coded tie-off straps (“talons”), a take-back form and an accompanying information pack. Each Big-Bag can hold a maximum of one tonne of material (here: Ytong and Multipor), which customers sort and collect directly at the site. Once tied-off with the coded talons and stacked on a pallet, Interzero then picks up the Big-Bags and transports the sorted scrap back to one of Xella’s factories. Here, the scrap remnants are ground up and used again in production.

Since the introduction of the Big-Bags at Xella in mid-2015, over 5,200 tonnes of mineral building materials have been returned to the resource cycle in a single year. In this context, it is worth remembering that the 210 million tonnes of mineral waste generated annually makes up 60 per cent of all waste in Germany. The joint approach taken by Interzero and Xella is therefore both ecologically and economically beneficial.

Your expert for

the reference Xella

Ann-Kathrin Denker

Projektleiterin Business Development

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