Concrete Perspectives October 2019
CONCRETE NEWS
CEN and CENELEC held a stakeholder workshop: ‘Materials – Value chains for circular economy: metal, wood, plastic and concrete’
On Tuesday, October 29, CEN and CENELEC held a workshop dedicated to exploring how standardization can support the transition to a fully functioning circular economy. In particular, the workshop focused on the challenges in reaching circular value-chains for plastic, wood, concrete and metal. The event put together a variety of stakeholders coming from the industry, policy makers, research institutes, civil society and the standardization community to identify the cross-sectorial needs in the materials’ circular value-chains, and to identify specific standardization solutions to further close the loops for metal, wood, plastic and concrete. Alessio Rimoldi from BIBM was among the panelists, discussing on cross-sectoral needs for materials in circular value-chains.
The 2nd ad-hoc working group meeting for EU Ecolabel hard covering products, Brussels, October 3-4
BIBM participated actively in the 2nd meeting for the revision of the EU Ecolabel criteria for hard covering products at the European Commission premises, promoting life-cycle assessment and durability. The EU Ecolabel criteria for hard coverings is nine years old and have had their validity prolonged until 30 June 2021. The revision of EU Ecolabel for hard coverings is ongoing. The publication of the revised criteria is foreseen for the second semester of 2020. EU Ecolabel Hard coverings products meet criteria that guarantee: reduced impact of extraction on habitats and natural resources, reduced energy consumption of production processes, less packaging, improved consumer information and waste management.
Concrete Student Trophy 2019, Austria
‘The Concrete Student Trophy 2019’ competition is supported by the Association of Austrian Concrete and Precast Plants (VÖB), the Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (GVTB) and the Association of the Austrian Cement Industry (VÖZ) under the expert guidance of Austrian universities. The award ceremony of the 14th edition of the Concrete Student Trophy in Austria will take place in Vienna on November 19. The prize is awarded for outstanding projects and seminar papers that have been developed in an interdisciplinary manner and in the design and construction of which concrete plays an essential role. This year, the competition task is the preliminary design of a barrier-free walkway for pedestrians and cyclists crossing the Danube Canal in Vienna.
BIBM NEWS
BIBM Congress – Programme available!
We confide in your help to raise awareness within your clients and stakeholders, through organising “national” visits, providing possible exhibitors and sharing the available promotional material.
REGISTRATION DEADLINES/UPDATES:
• Congress Delegate online registration and price list here (early bird until March 15, 2020)
• Early bird tickets for exhibitors’ registration CLOSED
• Download the final program here
• The BIBM Congress 2020’ official slogan: “The Future of European Construction – Precast Excellence in Nordic Countries”
BIBM Directors’ meeting and CERIB Visit, France, October 14-15
On October 14, the BIBM Directors’ group met again, this time at CERIB premises in Épernon, France. A visit of the CERIB laboratory was scheduled on the next day, October 15.
The Directors’ meeting was dedicated to the managers of the BIBM members for exchanging ideas, success stories and challenges in each national association. Among the directors gathered were Dr. Ulrich Lotz (FBF BW, DE), Gernot Brandweiner (VÖB, AT), Stef Mass (FEBE, BE), Ton Pielkenrood (BFBN, NL) and Jacques Manzoni (FIB, FR). Alessio Rimoldi and Magdalena Herbik (BIBM) have talked about the present and future work of BIBM and the upcoming BIBM Congress.
BIBM Environment Commission, October 23, Brussels
On October 23, the BIBM Environment Commission gathered in Brussels to discuss topics related to sustainable construction, decarbonisation, circular economy and BIBM involvement in NEPSI. EU initiatives, new construction standards and national developments in environmental issues has also been debated. John-Erik Reiersen from the Norwegian Precast Concrete Federation presented a report on comparison between precast and timber in Norway. Rob van der Meer (Director EU Public Affairs of HeidelbergCement) was also present, providing information regarding the steps taken by industry to decarbonise European industry, HeidelbergCement’s vision for carbon neutrality by 2050, and the current efforts being taken to address the unavoidable emissions associated with the industry.
BIBM NOVEMBER – JANUARY AGENDA
| NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY |
| 12: BIBM Board Meeting Dublin, Ireland | 3: BIBM Technical Commission Brussels | 9: European Masonry Alliance Confcall |
| 14-15: SeRaMCo Advisory Board and Project Partners meeting Nancy, France | 3: NEPSI Technical Committee Meeting on the NEPSI Dust Monitoring Protocol Brussels | 14-16 : RE4 Workshop and general Assembly Madrid, Spain |
| 18: European Masonry Alliance Meeting Brussels | 4: European Commission Workshop on Harmonised standards supporting the CPR Brussels | 16: NEPSI Technical Committee Meeting on the good practice guide Brussels |
| 18: BIBM TF Eurocode 2 Confcall | 5: BIBM Communication Commission Brussels | 17: BIBM Environment Commission Confcall |
| 21: European Concrete Platform Task Force Fire & Eurocodes Brussels | 10: NEPSI Council Brussels | 17: BIBM Board Confcall |
| 25: European Concrete Platform Task Force Health, Environment & Hygiene Confcall | 12: CEN/TC 229/WG 5 Complementary Product Category Rules for concrete and concrete elements Brussels | 21: Construction Products Europe TG Implementation of the CPR Brussels |
| 26: European Concrete Platform Board Meeting Brussels | 18: CEN/TC 229/WG 4 Editorial panel on Common Rules Brussels |
BIBM PARTNERS NEWS
VEEP PROJECT
On October 16, BIBM took part in the VEEP Project 7th General Assembly workshop (15-16.10.2019) in Madrid (Spain), discussing the final VEEP event at BIBM Congress in May 2020.
After project partners’ presentations about the latest advancements of the technical activities, four workshops were organised: demonstration of the VEEP solutions around a closed-loop approach; integrated environmental and economic assessment from life cycle perspective; IPR Management, Exploitation and Standardization; Communication and Dissemination.
Participants registered to the BIBM Congress will get free access to the VEEP workshop (May 6) with an additional option to choose whether they want to attend the workshop on the registration site. For others, a subpage on the website will be soon created with information about the project and registration.
Technical Committee meeting on the NEPSI Good Practice Guide, October 15, Brussels
The participants of the NEPSI Technical Committee went through the NEPSI good practice guide document. The Good Practice Guide is expected to be finalized by the end of this year. It provides tools to progressively improve workers protection, to enhance compliance with EU and EU Member States’ existing workers health & safety legislation and increase knowledge of the potential effects of respirable crystalline silica. Detailed Task Sheets constitute the main part of the Good Practice Guide, along with an introduction on crystalline silica and the risk assessment procedure. These provide a set of detailed technical recommendations to reduce exposure in the specific industrial settings encountered in each of the signatory industries. The date of the last NEPSI TC meeting on the good practice guide is set on 16 January 2020.
LIVE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION
Circular economy erected as ‘number one priority’ of European Green Deal
Kęstutis Sadauskas, the director for circular economy and green growth at the Commission’s environment directorate, believes that the circular economy is “the number one priority” for the European Green Deal. The circular economy, including new waste and recycling laws, will represent “half” of the EU’s effort to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The European Commission is now preparing a second circular economy action plan that will come out soon. ‘Circularity can bridge half of the gap towards the 1.5C target’, the official said, citing heavy industries where circular solutions can help cut ‘hundreds of millions of tonnes’ of CO2 (only 12% of materials currently find their way back into the economy via recycling and re-use). Industries mentioned as the next target of EU regulation include textiles, transport, food as well as the construction and demolition sectors. The EU Council of Ministers also demanded the introduction of new EU criteria on the durability, repairability and recyclability of products. Many products still aren’t covered by similar rules at the EU level, such as: textiles, batteries and ICT and the building sector.
MEPs approve French Commissioner-designate Thierry Breton
On November 14, key MEPs approved Thierry Breton, France’s nominee for the internal market post, following his hearing in the European Parliament by the Committees on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). Approval for the French nominee comes a month after the Parliament rejected Sylvie Goulard, France’s first choice for the job, over legal and ethical concerns in a blow to French President Macron. Thierry Breton has an experience in the areas covered by this portfolio, specifically industry and digital, as he was a Finance Minister in charge of industrial policy. He was also a CEO of several companies (most notably Atos) in the industrial and telecom sector.
The EU agrees to delay Brexit at least until January 31, 2020
To avoid a no deal scenario, the EU27 member states agreed unanimously to the UK’s request to extend Article 50 until January next year following a meeting in Brussels on October 28. Under the terms of ‘flextension’, the UK will be able to terminate the extension at any point if the Commons has ratified the deal. British PM Boris Johnson attempted to put his revised deal to Parliament on 19 October, but the vote did not go ahead. MPs chose to postpone a vote on the deal until legislation needed to turn the withdrawal agreement into UK law was completed. Mr Johnson wants a general election in the hope of winning more Conservative seats, making a Brexit deal easier to pass. The Labour said it would back a December election following the latest Brexit extension. If the UK leaves without a deal, the EU will start carrying out checks on British goods (the UK would leave the customs union and single market overnight). This could lead to delays at ports, traffic bottlenecks, disruption to supply routes and damage to the economy.
OUTSTANDING PRECAST CONCRETE PROJECTS
ANDECE – Spanish Precast Industry Association
The new football stadium of “Real Sociedad” team. Rocacero, one of ANDECE’s members, has supplied precast elements.
The IPHA Terry Treanor Award 2019
Winner: Creagh Concrete – CAD Academy, and Armasteel – 10 Wire PC Strand
This project entry indicates an innovative strategy implemented by Creagh Concrete Products Ltd to overcome significant skills shortages in technical staff for the design and detailing of hollowcore flooring within the Ireland and GB market.