Lanarkshire-based recycling and waste management solutions business Levenseat has developed a new stream of accredited products that provide a sustainable and lower cost alternative to virgin aggregates used in construction projects. The new products are the first in Scotland to have secured ‘end-of-waste’ status from the country’s environmental regulator SEPA.
Developed by Levenseat’s Minerals Division, three of the newly certified products – 0-10mm IBA aggregates; 0-25mm IBA aggregates; and IBA aggregate sand – are produced from incinerator bottom ash (IBA), while its recycled sand contains street sweepings and gully waste. End-of-waste certification ensures new IBA aggregate products, including IBA sand, can be used as a safe replacement of 50% virgin aggregate material in a bound application, including concrete blocks, while recycled sand has been approved for use in concrete, civil engineering work and road construction.
Utilising its IBA innovation, Levenseat has also developed a range of sustainable building products including lower carbon concrete Lev-co Blocks, which are made from a mix of the company’s new aggregates and virgin materials. Compliant with internationally recognised building and safety standards, Lev-co Blocks offer a long-lasting direct replacement for traditional interlocking concrete blocks, requiring no cement, and are fully recyclable at end of life.
Levenseat’s low carbon product offering is designed to help construction firms lower their building costs while also reducing their environmental impact by replacing virgin aggregate within concrete – for each tonne of recycled aggregate used, 29kg CO2 is saved from being emitted. In 2020 2.7 million tonnes of IBA was produced from Energy from Waste plants in the UK. By processing into recycled aggregates and directly replacing virgin mined aggregate used in concrete, a carbon saving of 78,300 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 41,826 car journeys or 36,520 flights can be achieved.*
Levenseat’s Technical Director, Rob Green, said: “As a company focused on innovative and sustainable solutions, we’re delighted to be the first in Scotland to achieve end-of-waste status for these aggregate products. This has been a rigorous process, which included detailed technical and environmental analysis and the implementation of a factory control system to ensure the products continually meet the required specifications.
“The new product range not only offers safe, lower carbon alternatives for the UK construction industry, but it’s also significantly more cost-effective compared to using traditional virgin materials. It represents another progressive step for Levenseat in supporting the journey towards net zero.”
Levenseat also achieved end-of-waste status for production of pulverised fuel ash (PFA) replacement, a product which was short-listed as a finalist in the 2021 National Recycling Awards. Produced from incineration fly and cyclone ash, PFA replacement provides a less expensive and lower carbon option for low strength concrete. Based on the 2020 UK production rate of incineration fly and cyclone ash, estimated to be 450,000 tonnes, the use of this new PFA replacement product when used in low strength concrete would generate a total equivalent carbon saving of 151,200 tonnes of CO2, equating to more than 80,000 car journeys or over 70,000 flights.*
(ENDS)
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Notes to editors:
*Carbon footprint savings have been quantified by comparing to number of flights not flown and number of cars removed from the road. This is based on a carbon an analysis of a Boeing 737 flying one way between Glasgow and Heathrow, and the average car which drives 15,000km per year.
The carbon footprint of wash plant sand and IBAA material:
The carbon footprint of disposing of the original waste to landfill, and mining virgin aggregates is compared to; the processing of the waste to produce the recycled aggregate product and disposing of the concentrated organic trash fractions from the original waste input. This analysis takes data from a carbon footprint databank titled CCALC2 and brings together the individual carbon footprints for each step of both routes to give a total carbon footprint. Considerations are given to carbon footprints arising from sources such as mining activities, electricity usage, water usage and diesel for transport of material and mobile plant used in the waste processing.
The carbon footprint of PFA replacement media:
The carbon footprint of disposing of APCR (the waste), and mining virgin sand, with the use of OPC cement to product a low strength concrete is compared to; processing APCR (the waste) into a PFA replacement media and using OPC cement to produce a low strength concrete. The CCALC2 database is used above with similar methodology of summating the carbon footprints of individual steps within the route. Considerations are given to carbon footprints arising from sources such as material transport, mining activities, electricity usage, water usage and chemical usage.
About Levenseat
Levenseat Ltd has been a key player in the Scottish Resource Management Sector for over 35 years. The company is an industry leader in converting wastes into resources, leading the way to a more sustainable and low carbon Scotland. They have a track record in innovation and delivering solutions for customers, including:
- Enabling local authority customers to meet their obligations under the Household Recycling Charter at reasonable cost
- Innovative solutions for manufacturing products from comingled food and garden waste, including compost and feedstocks that produce renewable power
- Producing renewable power and heat from black bag waste.
Levenseat recently established a Minerals Division led by Technical Director, Rob Green to develop, produce and market reduced embedded carbon sands a