Recycle your wine bottles and watch them transform into bridges, sidewalks
In a time of push for bigger and better infrastructure, Quebec researchers are working toward an environmentally friendly way to build bridges and construct sidewalks.
The answer: glass powder used from millions of wine and spirit bottles thrown into recycling bins.
This finding has led to the creation of the SAQ Chair, a collaboration between the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), the Université de Sherbrooke Foundation and more.
The Chair, led by Sherbrooke University civil engineering professor Arezki Tagnit-Hamou, aims to add mixed glass to concrete to highlight sustainable development, environmental protection and economic and social considerations.
The process of creating glass powder, according to Tagnit-Hamou, is simple.
"They have to clean it, then they develop a grinding centre...they have to grind it very fine," he said. "The fineness is around the same fineness as cement or even less."
Tagnit-Hamou points out glass is originally created by heating sand at high temperatures.
"By doing that, you create a reactive material," he tells CTV News. "When you replace a part of cement by glass powder, this glass powder will produce almost the same glue like cement."
Tagnit-Hamou explains that research shows that adding glass powder to concrete instead of cement makes it much more durable, waterproof and resistant.
It also significantly reduces the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with its production.
"The CO₂ emission can be huge because one tonne of cement can produce around 800 kilograms of CO₂," he said. "In all the world, we have around 4.6 billion tonnes of cement."
Tagnit-Hamou states concrete is one of the planet's most widely used construction materials -- after water.
"The industry has to find a solution to decrease the CO₂. This is the reason why this type of material, like glass, is very interesting," he said. "Not only to decrease the glass in the sorting plants but definitely to also decrease the CO₂ emissions in the concrete industry."
According to the SAQ Chair, for each tonne of glass powder added to concrete as a cement additive, GHG emissions are reduced by around 0.6 tonnes.
Tagnit-Hamou explains glass powder can replace up to 40 per cent of cement.
"In Quebec, we work a lot with 10 and 20 per cent. Some of our friends in the U.S. work with 20 to 40 per cent," he notes.
He says this difference is partially due to Canada's more drastic climate.
The plan, Tagnit-Hamou adds, is to slowly increase the glass powder percentage to match that of the U.S.
Since its creation, the Chair has focused on standardizing glass powder as a cementitious material both in Canada and America.
Several projects have already been completed using glass powder concrete.
Most notably, the Darwin Bridge in Île-des-Sœurs used the equivalent of 70,000 wine bottles, saving 40,000 kg of cement.
The project, which was a world first, piqued the curiosity of the global science community, winning the Infrastructures 2021 Award of Excellence.
The technique has also been used to pave numerous kilometres of sidewalks across Quebec and some SAQ store floors.
The program boasts numerous partners, including Hydro-Quebec and the cities of Montreal and Sherbrooke.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
BREAKING Craig Berube named as next head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube as their new head coach.
A look back on Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season: Preparing for potential challenges in 2024
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.
Person charged in random assault on actor Steve Buscemi in New York
A person wanted in connection with the random assault on actor Steve Buscemi on a New York City street earlier this month was taken into custody Friday, police said.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.