In an Australian first initiative, Boral is working with solar panel upcycling company Elecsome and using glass fines sourced from old PV panels as a sustainable alternative to natural sand in concrete intended for use in Victoria’s North East Link road and tunnel project.
Boral said it has created “a variety of concrete mixes using solar glass sand” for the $26.1 billion project, blending up to 50% natural sand with the crushed glass particles sourced from solar panel waste processed at Elecsome’s recycling facility in Victoria.
“Test loads of concrete were transported from the Tullamarine plant to its recently opened Bulleen concrete plant, which supplies concrete to the North East Link project, and a trial concrete slab has been laid on site,” Boral said in a statement.
The company added that the solar glass and sand blend has delivered “excellent” results in an “assessment of plastic properties including consistency and finishing” as well as “hardened property testing for compliance with relevant standards.”
Boral’s Head of Sustainability and Innovation, Ali Nezhad, said the success of the concrete mix in a commercial project offered “an effective pathway for recycling of end-of-life solar panels.”
“Our solar glass sand concrete trial demonstrates the ability and strength of reusing materials to create a circular economy,” he said. “We are excited about the next generation of work being done around new and innovative building construction materials.”
Image: Boral
The production of concrete is one of the largest sources of carbon pollution, responsible for about 8% of emissions globally.
Elecsome, which is working to repurpose discarded PV panels into their raw materials for use in other industries, said the trial results mark “the first steps to set up a sustainable circular economy by upcycling end-of-life solar panels to be used in concrete and commercial construction.”
The innovation was initiated by the consortium of companies designing and constructing the North East Link project with a team from the University of Melbourne assisting with development and testing.
The North East Link is Victoria’s largest road project. It includes twin 6.5-kilometre tunnels that will connect the suburbs of Watsonia and Bulleen in the city’s northeast.
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Are we to presume that all copper and silver has been removed from the glass first!
That is correct. Elecsome’s upcycling process separates the materials before adding back to the value chain