Contact person
Adriana Angelaccio-Osbeck
Projektledare
Contact Adriana
Re-Membrane
Many building materials for both infrastructure and house construction contain large amounts of plastic. In this project, we focus on membranes that will seal against water, and the project will investigate whether recycled plastic can be used in moisture and vapor barriers and in tunnel membranes with maintained quality.
In the construction industry, large volumes of plastic are used in sealing membranes in buildings as well as in infrastructure projects such as road, railway and tunnel construction. Age-resistant building foil aims to prevent moisture from traveling through building constructions made of wood, which is a common building material in Sweden and the Nordic countries. In both of these applications, large volumes of plastic are used, and by replacing a proportion of the plastic raw material with more recycled plastic, the carbon footprint could be greatly reduced. Since the plastic films and foils are built into constructions and are difficult to replace, the requirements for durability are very high and the products must last 50 years or more.
Uncertainty about how long recycled plastic lasts, as well as variations in the properties of the raw material, have meant that people have not dared to use recycled plastic in products intended for long-term applications. The development and expansion of recycling facilities has increased in recent years and there are high quality recycled plastics available. In previous research projects, we have investigated the durability of products with recycled plastic using accelerated aging with successful results.
In the Re-Membrane project, the project participants will develop and manufacture age-resistant film for buildings and tunnel membranes containing recycled plastic raw material. RISE will then perform accelerated aging and test the products for long-term applications. The purpose is to show whether recycled plastic also works for products that are to be used for a long time. A simplified Life Cycle Analysis will be carried out on the products to assess the environmental benefits of exchanging new raw materials for recycled ones. A survey of the use, occurrence of spills and recycling of geomembranes will also be carried out within the project. In conclusion, we will plan for a continuation project where more stakeholders are invited and the products can be tested in different construction projects.
Summary
Project name
Re-Membrane
Status
Active
RISE role in project
Coordinator and executor
Project start
Duration
3 years
Total budget
4 469 869 SEK
Partner
Draken i Reftele AB , Rani plast , Oldroyd , Trioworld , Tecca
Funders
Project members
Anna Jansson Annika Boss Adriana Angelaccio-Osbeck Azadeh Soroudi
