The ICARUS Project (Increasing Circularity In Process Industries By Upcycling Secondary Resources), coordinated by ACCIONA's Construction business, and with the participation of ACCIONA's Water business, will contribute to the circular and sustainable transformation of the industrial sector.
ICARUS will obtain recycled materials that meet the standards to be used in applications in the construction sector. It will be based on material resources that are part of waste from certain extractive and transformation industries such as mining, wastewater treatment, urban waste management and steel production.
Three demonstration cases will be carried out to highlight the value of waste from these industries for the construction sector. Specifically, ACCIONA's WATER business will participate in the demonstration of new technologies for the recovery and recycling of cellulose from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The recovered cellulose fibres can be used, for example, in concrete mixes for slabs and pavements, with significant benefits in the prevention of breakage due to drying shrinkage.
The ICARUS project also involves 16 other entities from 7 European countries. The budget amounts to 10 million euros and is funded by the European Commission (GA101138646) through the Horizon Europe Programme.