A New Level of Circular Economy at SCHWENK Beton Berlin-Brandenburg

As it has consistently demonstrated over the past five years, SCHWENK Beton Berlin-Brandenburg is gaining momentum in the circular economy. By using recycled concrete materials, the company conserves valuable natural resources such as gravel and sand, making concrete production as resource-efficient as possible.

To this end, aggregate in the form of certified RC material is delivered to the Friedrichsfelde, Schenkendorf, and Tempelhof plants by various suppliers. Production began to serve the traditionally strong walk-in customer business, and the Friedrichsfelde plant is now capable of processing approximately 1,000 metric tons of RC material per month. To generate consistent demand and thereby become a reliable partner to the recycling industry, the use of recycled material is set to become increasingly standard.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

As part of a new investment in CO2 reduction, the company delivered RC concrete for a machine foundation to the Heim recycling company’s facility in Berlin-Marzahn. Among other materials, RC material was used that Heim itself produced at the investment site, delivered for concrete production, and reused as RC material (2–8 mm). As a result, approximately 10 metric tons of RC material were returned to the cycle for the foundation mentioned above.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Overall, this example shows that, with the right logistics, a circular economy works in practice. Our goal is to conserve raw material sources by using recycled concrete (RC) materials. As far as the use of RC material as a raw material is concerned, our experience to date has been almost entirely positive. Provided that certain specific rules for handling RC material are followed, processing it at the ready-mix concrete plant is problem-free, and the properties of both fresh and hardened concrete are comparable to those of conventional concrete.