For the 5th year running, the Rail Europe Solutions group’s circular economy unit organised a concrete sleeper recycling campaign as part of a major periodic operation (Grande opération périodique – GOP). The campaign, which involved crushing and recycling 70,000 concrete sleepers from a line being upgraded, helped to reduce the environmental impact of rail activities in many ways.
The sleepers were transferred to a crushing facility close to the railway line
Rail Europe Solutions arranged for the sleepers to be transferred from Longueau to an approved crushing facility from July to September 2019 , in accordance with the regulations in force.
10,000 tonnes of recycled aggregates
70,000 sleepers were crushed in the crushing facility, with the concrete and steel separated and processed via two approved recycling processes. An estimated 10,000 tonnes of concrete aggregate was recycled for various uses (roadbeds, etc.), saving at least 500 truckloads of materials having to be collected from local quarries.
Not one ounce of track was wasted
Rail Europe Solutions has been committed to this circular economy policy for several years now and is keen to make use of all track waste: wooden sleepers, concrete sleepers, ballast, rubber/plastic and ever the rails. The group collects waste from a number of different networks and guarantees that it is systematically recycled.
The sleepers are crushed using a unique, clean and selective process that separates the aggregate from the steel so that it can be properly recycled.
