b'RECYCLED CONCRETE MATERIALRECYCLEDCONCRETEAN ECOLOGICAL OPTIONRecycled concrete material, or RCM, fills an important gap in the provinces building projects By Alex ElzbetC oncrete is one of the mostenvironmental impact of storing the wasteconstructionof anddemolitionstreams versatile building materialsand preserve the natural environment. recoveryconcretematerialfrom andhasfacilitatedindus- Concreteis100percentrecyclablebuildings,bridges,sidewalks,andother trialgrowthinthelastmaterial,anditcanbecrushed,cleaned,concrete structures at end of life.century. However, it is diffi- screenedandreusedasvaluable cult to get rid of concrete as well as asphaltconstructionmaterial.Typically,recycledEveryyearinOntario,millionsof when buildings are demolished and whenconcrete material (RCM) can be processedtonnesofreusableasphaltandconcrete roads and highways are being repaired. Asinto different sizes and reused as aggregateaggregate is generated from road building thenationsinfrastructuregoesthroughin road bases, shoulders and backfill, amongandotherconstructionprojects.These upgrading, the volume of available wasteother applications. RCM comes primarilyvaluable resources are recyclable and can will increase. The use of this waste concretefromtwosources:returnedconcretebeusedbymunicipalitiesintheirroads and asphalt in new projects will reduce the(relatively clean from contamination) andand infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, Millions of tonnes of reusable asphalt and concrete aggregate is generated from road building and other construction projects in Ontario each year26 AVENUESWINTER 2023'