Initiated with the intention of harmonizing Europe’s science, technology and policy implementations, HORIZON 2020 aims for steering the future’s technologies through international partnerships. European Union’s HORIZON 2020 Research and Innovation Frame
Program, a grant program covering the years between 2014-2020 with a total budget amounting to 80 billion euros. EU HORIZON 2020 Grant Program which Turkey opted in as well with a share of 451 million euros, offers the researchers in our country new opportunities. Aiming 500-million-dollar export by the end of the year and comprised of the components of the cement sector which is the builder of the Turkish economy, TÇMB’s R&D Institute, takes effective part in HORIZON 2020 Program.
“TÇMB R&D Institute will receive a fund of 542 thousand 500 euros in the project whose total budget is approximately 11 million euros.”
Şefik Tüzün, Chairman of Board of Directors at TÇMB, gave information about the works on the grant program. “The fact that the subjects of the HORIZON 2020 program are among the primary R&D subjects such as waste usage, energy efficiency, and the CO2 emission reduction in the fields of the environmental effect reduction, which are recognized as the key matters in the cement sector made it a target for us to take place in the project.” he said. “The proposal of the project FISSAC (Fostering Industrial Symbiosis for a Sustainable Resource Intensive Industry Across the Extended Construction Value Chain)’, with which we take part as a partner in the program, became entitled to be supported as it scored 13 full points out of 15 following the evaluation process conducted by the European Commission. The project which will take 4.5 years began in September 2015 and the project-related works are still ongoing. In the Project, TÇMB R&D Institute will receive a fund of 542 thousand 500 euros. The total budget is approximately 11 million euros.
”Within the framework of the project, TÇMB R&D Institute continues to carry out works in terms of characterization of wastes, regional waste procurement, laboratory, “Environmentally-Friendly Cement and Concrete Production” on a pilot and industrial scale, and concrete roads to be constructed with the produced concrete.
Moreover, Dr. Tülay Çağlayan Özlü, R&D Director at TÇMB, said that it also plays an important role in producing and introducing into the market a heavy industry product like cement, defined as a locomotive power in Europe and the world, through symbiotic methods and pointed out that they aim for cyclic economy and zero waste approach in the project by ensuring the better use of secondary raw materials formed in different industries rather than the raw materials obtained through waste management.
Briefly, what is intended within the framework of this project, which is conducted by 26 partner from 9 countries (Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Germany, Italy, England, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Sweden), is making it possible to utilize the waste or by-product of a sector as a resource in other sectors.
Waste Management Becomes Widespread in Our Country
Özlü expressed that Turkish cement industry, as one of the most important shareholders in waste utilization processes, plays an active role in the reduction of the use of fossil fuel and natural raw material and in the industrial symbiosis networks with the principle of energy efficiency. “The matter of waste management and reduction of industrialbased environmental effects has been continuously discussed and enhanced by the industrialists and scientists for many years in Europe,” she said. For this reason, the installation of industrial symbiosis networks and ensuring its continuity have become an important target. Agreeable waste management implementations are becoming widespread day by day and numerous implementation and research examples are seen in our country as well. Industrial symbiosis example works under the scope of FISSAC will guide industrialists in avoiding and reducing wastes and offer a new method in terms of the proliferation of similar implementations.”
