Germany Strabag launches C3 pilot project in Bremen

The Strabag Group has launched a pioneering flagship project as part of its sustainability strategy. A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony on Nov. 4, 2022, marked the start of remediation and construction work for C3, the Circular Construction & Technology Center, at Bremen’s former oil port. The competence centre for construction waste processing will lay the foundation for the resource-saving, low-carbon construction of the future. The recycled building materials developed and obtained here will make a significant contribution to establishing closed material cycles in the construction industry in the Bremen region. Over the next two years, however, the heavily contaminated with mineral oil site must be first comprehensively and sustainably cleaned up. The construction of the buildings and of the plant technology will begin in 2024. The facilities for recycling construction waste are also scheduled to go into operation that same year.

It is our aspiration as the Strabag Group to play a leading role in driving forward the development of sustainable and resource-saving construction processes and products. The extraction of valuable secondary raw materials is an important building block for our goal of becoming climate neutral across our entire value chain by 2040. We are pleased to be able to develop Strabag Environmental Technology’s first recycling centre here in Bremen and to be able to contribute the full range of our expertise – initially in remediation and later in the recycling of building materials.
Dirk Brozio, managing director of Strabag Environmental Technology

The Strabag Circular Construction & Technology Center is being built using sustainable methods of construction and with primarily climate-friendly building materials such as wood and recycled concrete. Following completion, the facility will be operated in an energy self-sufficient and climate neutral capacity. Power is to be generated by photovoltaics, with heat coming from a heat pump in combination with ground-level geothermal energy. Electricity storage units help absorb any peak loads. A rainwater collection system will allow the construction waste processing and the sanitary facilities to be operated without additional water consumption. Green roofs with retention chambers for water storage and moss walls to reduce noise serve as biohabitats.

Approx. 130 people will be employed at the new centre. Debris materials are to be separated and recycled as secondary raw materials for use as equivalent substitutes for primary raw materials, e.g., in asphalt and concrete production. For the continuous optimisation and further development of the technical processes, Strabag will expand the centre into a technology and research facility with a start-up campus for construction waste recycling and other environmental technology business fields. Collaborating with universities, testing laboratories and specialist institutes, the facility will research and develop new recycling options for the circular economy of tomorrow.