Mining waste—millions of tonnes of toxic sludge and acidic water—gets turned into low-carbon cement and building bricks. The SUMMITS project aims to replace a portion of the world’s most polluting material, Portland cement, with cements made from heavy-metal-rich tailings and acidic mine effluents. Two types are being developed: alkali-activated cements and biocements, the latter produced by microorganisms harvested from the mines themselves. After lab development, the team will test these cements in a field trial at an active mining site, using them to make masonry blocks and to stabilise leftover waste, suppressing dust and preventing slope failures. If successful, the approach tackles three problems at once: hazardous waste disposal, the carbon footprint of construction (Portland cement alone accounts for roughly 8% of global CO₂ emissions), and the lack of affordable building materials for communities living near mines. The field trial, supported by regulators and an international mining company, is a critical step toward industrial adoption.
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Mining activities are essential for the development and subsistence of human society and of paramount importance for Europe's and the world's economy. However, they produce vast amounts of waste of various forms, most of which hazardous, exposing populations and ecosystems near mines to severe hazards. Extensive research efforts are therefore focusing on finding uses that neutralize and consume large quantities of this waste and on ways of safely disposing of waste that cannot yet be valorised. SUMMITS proposes circular processes in the mining sites to valorise large quantities of mine waste of different forms (including heavy metal-rich mine tailing waste and highly acidic mine-tailing effluents) by producing novel low-carbon cements and cement-based building and construction materials. These low-carbon cements are alkali-activated cements and biocements (biomimetic cements produced using the action of microorganisms from the mines). After developing the mine waste-based cements in the laboratory, we will apply them to (a) produce masonry materials (bricks/blocks); (b) encapsulate and/or stabilise unvalorised waste in the mines (to suppress dust and prevent engineering failures), during a pioneering field trial at a mining site. The field application of the novel cements supported by regulators/policy makers and an international mining company, will allow us to assess their performance at industrial environment, which is a major step forward towards their industry uptake. Overall, SUMMITS research addresses concurrently hazardous waste management, resilience, infrastructure decarbonisation by producing low-carbon alternatives to Portland Cement (responsible for substantial CO2 emissions) and the production of cheap building materials by/for disadvantaged communities next to the mines, turning this waste to opportunity for the local communities. It thus addresses simultaneously environmental, economic, and societal sustainability.
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