New foundation material completes sustainability circle

A responsible, sustainable alternative to traditional foundation materials: that's Optiblend^®, an innovative cementitious foundation material for use in construction and infra. Optiblend^® was born from the collaboration between multidisciplinary contracting company Van de Beeten and producer of raw materials Heros Sluiskil. With Optiblend^® Van de Beeten introduces a strong, circular, high-quality and certified product. Heros co-certified the product.

Everything hinges on maintaining a leading market position in sustainability in 2022. Van de Beeten of Veghel not only knows all about this, but also acts accordingly. The most current proof is the introduction of Optiblend^®. "With Optiblend^® we complete the sustainable circle," says Linda Blommaert, marketing and communications manager at Heros Sluiskil. "In addition to water and cement, this product consists of high-quality secondary residues. At the same time, Optiblend is^® perfectly suitable for reuse. As a result, this invention fits perfectly with the wish pattern of construction and civil engineering companies that increasingly want to realize their projects with fewer primary raw materials and materials."

Reusable

More and more household waste is being produced in the Netherlands and it has to go somewhere, stresses Niels Schellekens, business manager at Van de Beeten. "Endless storage is not an option. That's why a large part of the residual waste that cannot be recycled (anymore) goes as fuel to the Waste-to-Energy plants that use it to produce district heat and energy." The waste that is usable is recycled and applied according to the Green Deal agreements between the government and Waste-to-Energy Plants. The goal of the Green Deal is to work up contaminated reusable material so that it can be used as a freely applicable building material. "In this way, the remaining mineral raw materials can be used as secondary raw materials for high-quality end products," Blommaert said. "Granova^® of Heros as raw material and Optiblend^® as a finished product fit seamlessly with this."

Extremely strong

But it doesn't stop there. Optiblend^® has numerous advantages over traditional foundation materials, Schellekens emphasizes. "First of all, the material is extremely strong and represents a high load-bearing capacity. As a result, the thickness of pavement layers and concrete floors can be significantly reduced. As a result, users experience the use of Optiblend^® also in their wallets. The product is also suitable for absorbing compressive and tensile strength in less load-bearing substrates. During the construction phase, you need fewer driving slabs, and after breaking up the foundation in the future, you can reuse the material again for new Optiblend to be produced^®. That completes the circle."

Reliable

Reliability is also an important consideration, according to Schellekens, when it comes to choosing Optiblend^®. "The secondary raw materials we source to make Optiblend^® are extensively tested by Heros and then certified. After being brought to us by ship - which also makes a huge difference in CO₂-emissions - we professionally mix the raw materials according to a certified recipe in our own mixing plant. This is done completely computer-controlled. As a result, the proportions of the ingredients are continuously balanced and dosed to the nearest percent. This allows us to guarantee a constant quality of the final product. Moreover, our large production capacity enables us to guarantee a high availability of Optiblend^® guarantee, so we can basically always deliver."

Circular thought

Schellekens: "Van de Beeten wants to stay ahead in the market and the circular CSR idea plays a big role in this. We want to continue on this path, together with partners like Heros. With Optiblend^® we offer a high-quality secondary cementitious foundation material that can be used as an alternative to traditional foundation materials in construction and infrastructure. Think of applications in business and parking lots, embankments, roads, bicycle paths, floor pavements in logistics centers and industrial halls. We are eroding our earth more and more by using primary raw materials. So we need to switch to secondary building materials. Because overlying paving constructions when using Optiblend^® can be reduced in thickness, the knife cuts both ways. With Optiblend^® we contribute to the solution of a social problem by giving new life to the remnants of our prosperity and sparing our earth."