SCENT develops new pathways to delivering high-quality brittle-matrix composite materials for the construction industry, with the distinctive feature of employing resources in a low-impact, sustainable and efficient framework. These strategic goals are achieved through the adoption of natural materials alongside a significant fraction of recycled raw materials. The key enabling technology of the project lies in the engineered design, skilful blend and reuse of carefully selected natural and end-of-life (EoL) materials, with special regard to plastic and plastic/rubber waste, which would otherwise be disposed of by landfilling or thermal valorization.
Natural fibres present excellent reinforcing properties, while plastic/rubber waste exhibit great potential to act as filler and/or lighting agent in cementitious matrices. The project aims to investigate the properties of the resulting composites for widespread adoption in the construction sector. For their successful application, materials need to be durable, safe and cost-effective, besides being performing and compliant with the regulations. To warrant fulfilment of these requirements, SCENT investigates mechanical strength and ductility, durability and safety, heat and acoustic conductivity, chemical stability and resistance to aggressive environments. In particular, it is crucial to be able to deal with the natural variability of the input materials. This is achieved through a combination of surface processing, for instance through nano-coatings, and by balancing the variability of different materials out in a possibly zero sum combination. The possibility of developing sustainable composite materials is among the most important current trends in materials investigation, in light of the impactful application potential it carries. At the same time, the pathway to a circular economy demands to be able to develop zero waste applications, which are capable of collecting end-of-life products and feed them back into new production processes. SCENT aims to combine both such needs with innovation. For this, it capitalizes on collateral assets of end-of-life materials, both from the technical side (such as lightweight, anti-spalling, chemical inertness) and from the market side (subsidies, regulations), to extract their hidden value for the right applications. In this spirit, SCENT is fully consistent with the recently adopted new action plan for the Circular Economy (CEAP), which is one of the backbones of the reaffirmed
European Green Deal (EGD). Also, preventing landfilling of end-of-life resources is crucial to the Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) policy, while their reuse provides substantial relieve from the most impactful human activity of resource extraction and processing.