Today, over 800 million tonnes of CDW are generated per year in Europe. However, despite the high recycling potential, its reuse has been limited to backfilling operations or low-grade building products. A major obstacle is the high heterogeneity of CDW. Therefore, one main objective of CDWValue is to explore clean methods allowing the individualization and effective recovery of CDW constituents. So far, under the CDWvalue initiative it was possible to achieve high-quality recycled sand with low adhered paste and cement waste fraction of high purity.

Another main priority of CDWvalue is the reduction of the large carbon footprint of concrete production through the development of alternative low-carbon binders. The recycled cement recently developed by the CDWvalue research team is an innovative eco-efficient solution that potentially reduces CO2 emissions by over 60% compared to conventional clinker, while contributing to reduce consumption of natural resources and to repurpose of construction and demolition waste.