PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
GREENLIFE4SEAS stems from the urgent need to find out sustainable solutions for two strong environmental concerns: the fate of 200 millions of m3 of sediments, often contaminated, dredged in EU every year and the disposal of 490,000 tons/year of shells, as one of the most impacting EU aquaculture wastes. GREENLIFE4SEAS aims at demonstrating the technical feasibility, full safety and commercial viability of breakthrough solutions for in-situ recovery and reuse of dredged harbour sediments and shells, that are used as secondary raw materials for the realisation of sustainable by-products by means of an optimised mixing technology.
The project is founded on three main pillars:
1. The realisation, at the real scale, of four innovative by-products (i.e., shell powder, paving blocks, breakwaters, stabilised mass) for the building sector mainly made by the reuse of shells and dredged sediments (after decontamination, if polluted) and produced directly in-situ by an original mixing technology.
2. The development of a sound and viable business model for the in-situ collection and treatment of mussel shell and dredged sediments based on the prototypal technology of a mobile plant (GL4S) producing the new by-products (paving blocks, breakwaters, stabilised mass).
3. The overcome of existing regulatory barriers through the definition of a specific authorisation protocol for the reuse of dredged sediments for engineering solutions, such as the pilot by-products to be realised throughout GREENLIFE4SEAS.
GREENLIFE4SEAS is carried out by a triple-helix model of Consortium, where synergy among research capitalisation, industrial symbiosis and governmental partners as primary stakeholders is the key to innovation and sustainable growth in a knowledge-based economy. GREENLIFE4SEAS results will epitomise a concrete contribution to improve the EU environmental policy for waste management, circular blue economy and aquaculture.
OBJECTIVES
The GREENLIFE4SEAS project aims to address the need to find sustainable solutions for the management of dredged sediments and shells. It will demonstrate the technical feasibility, full safety, and commercial viability of innovative solutions for in-situ recovery and reuse of dredged harbour sediments and shells in the ports of Barletta, Bari and La Spezia in Italy, and Piraeus in Greece.
The specific objectives of the project are to:
- Develop and apply innovative, sustainable and economically viable technical solutions for the effective management of dredged sediments, even when contaminated, in the four port management authorities.
- Test an innovative value chain, aimed at the recovery and reuse of shells, ensuring business opportunities for the aquaculture and fishery sectors and preventing their current widespread illegal disposal.
- Produce, test and use a new by-product, shell powder (SP), made up of collected and treated shells.
- Produce, test and industrialise three innovative by-products (i.e., paving blocks, breakwaters and stabilised mass), made up of mixtures of sediments and CemShell binders (i.e., original binders where cement is partially replaced by SP).
- Develop, test and industrialise a prototypal mobile plant for producing, in-situ, the three by-products.
- Design and launch the market uptake strategy for the mobile plant and for the innovative by-products, supporting their commercial exploitation and wider replication across Europe.
- Support the development of new regulation and the updating of the existing one on sediment management options outside port areas in both Italy and Greece.
- Establish an innovative and multi-disciplinary alliance, bringing together port authorities, research entities, industry and associations, for a permanent dialogue on a beneficial use of sediments and on their integrated management.
RESULTS
Through the project technologies, a total of 405 tonnes of sediment (both contaminated and not) will be treated, and 120 tonnes of shell powder will be produced, avoiding their disposal and creating the following by-products from them:
- Paving blocks (450m2)
- Breakwaters (30m)
- Mass stabilisation units (eight models)
As a result, and due to the recovery of both sediment and shell waste, and their treatment in-situ, the following environmental and climate benefits are expected:
- Reduction of CO2 emissions due to reduced cement production: 43.88 tonnes CO2eq
- Reduction of CO2 emissions due to avoided transport: 50.9 tonnes CO2eq
- Reduction of CO2 emissions due to avoided landfilling of sediments: 1.0 tonnes CO2eq
- Reduction of CO2 emissions due to avoided landfilling of shells: 0.6 tonnes CO2eq
- Reduction of CO2 emissions due to avoided inert extraction: 1.2 tonnes CO2eq
- Reduction of CO2 emissions due to avoided inert transport: 0.6 tonnes CO2eq
- Energy saved due to reduced cement production: 236 gigajoules (GJ)
- Reduction of fuel consumption due to in-situ treatment: 819 GJ
- Energy saved due to the avoided inert extraction: 15.2 GJ
- Reduction of fuel consumption due to avoided inert transport: 10 GJ
- Reduction of raw material consumption (cement) due to use of shell powder: 120 tonnes
- Saving of inert for paving block and breakwater block production: 202.5 tonnes
- Decontamination and reuse of sediments: 75 m3
- Reduction of contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons (C>12): 31 kg
