The COMPRO project uses cellulose fibers from recovered toilet paper and Kaumera. With these substances, researchers produce high-quality building materials from raw materials derived from organic waste streams.
There is a strong (structuurvisie ondergrond) need to move from a linear - make, waste, throw away - model to a fully circular model for the city of Amsterdam. Amsterdam has committed to be fully circular by the year 2050. Circularity means rethinking and redesigning the flow of resources such as building materials, water, food and energy that drive urban activities.
2 major waste streams are upcycled in the COMPRO project
The COMPRO project builds on the results and insights of WASCOM - in which two major organic waste streams are being upcycled into high-value building materials for the city. These waste streams are cellulose fibers from collected toilet paper and a "biological glue" called Kaumera, produced by bacteria in the Nereda® wastewater treatment process.
Together, these can be used to make a completely bio-based and circular composite material called Re-plex. A material that could be valuable to the construction industry.
A field test of Re-plex as a facade material is currently underway.
For this three-year project, BAM Infraconsult, NPSP, ChainCraft and TU Delft are joining forces with our Research Fellows Peter Mooij and Mariet Sauerwein.