Productization of surplus masses

Important results from the project

During the course of the project, a new ruling came from the Land and Environmental superior court in which the criteria for a residual product to be classified as a by-product have been clarified. This led to a change in focus from defined circular products to the process of productifying circular products. The project has shown that it is possible to reuse surplus materials directly between different construction projects by applying the by-product criteria.

Expected long term effects

By working according to our described working method where excavated material is handled and classified as a by-product instead of as waste, the reuse of surplus materials could be increased. This working method simplifies administration and enables the materials to be used directly in a receiving project without passing through the waste management stage. This could reduce the amount of excavated material transported to facility/landfill and the need for new excavation of material.

Approach and implementation

The work has been conducted in parallel with an SBUFproject on Circular Mass Management. The focus has shifted due to environmental ruling. The main steps have been to identify a clear work process for how productification in a construction project can be carried out by using the by-product criteria. Then the approach has been tested in a couple of active projects. In one of these projects, surplus materials has been productified and reused. The collaboration within the project has worked well.