Frederick Research Center is hosting "The DEFEAT Project Symposium: A Day of Scientific Insight and Innovation" on Thursday, 23 November, at Frederick University, Nicosia. The Symposium aims to underscore the innovative breakthroughs achieved during the project.

The symposium serves as a platform to present the main research findings achieved through the DEFEAT project, focusing on the development of an innovative insulation fire-resistant façade from construction and demolition waste (CDW), along with an innovative robotic separation method of the CDW.

The Symposium aims to showcase the culmination of scientific endeavors and innovative breakthroughs achieved during the DEFEAT project.

The event's agenda is as follows:

10:00 – 10:10 Welcome
Dr Demetris Nicolaides, Project Coordinator, Frederick Research Center

10:10 – 10:30 DEFEAT Project: Methodological Concepts, Practical Challenges and Key Findings
Dr Demetris Nicolaides, Project Coordinator, Frederick Research Center

10:30 – 10:45 The Implementation of an Automated Construction and Demolition Waste Sorting Prototype
Dr Pavlos Mavrommatides, Senior Researcher, Frederick Research Center

10:45 – 11:00 Artificial Intelligence in Automated Waste Sorting Systems
Dr Demetris Demetriou, Senior Researcher, University of Cyprus

11:00 – 11:15 Geopolymerization Technology and its Potential on the Valorisation of Solid Waste
Dr Ioanna Giannopoulou, Senior Researcher, Frederick Research Center

11:15 – 11:30 Development of Sustainable Materials for the Thermal Insulation and Energy Improvement of Structures
Mr. Ponsian Robert, PhD Candidate, Frederick University

11:30 – 11:45 3D-Printing of Inorganic Polymeric Materials by mean of Liquid Deposition Modelling (LDM)
Dr Loucas Papadakis, Senior Researcher, Frederick Research Center

11:45 – 12:00 Life Cycle Assessment of DEFEAT Innovative Materials
Ms. Konstantina Oikonomopoulou, PhD Candidate, University of Cyprus

12:00 – 12:15 Guidelines for a Strategic Action Plan for Recycled CDW Reuse
Dr Christos Anastasiou, Senior Researcher, Frederick Research Center

12:15 – 12:30 Discussion

12:30 – 13:00 Reception

The symposium will be held on Thursday, 23 November 2023, from 10:00 to 13:00 at the "Tassos Papadopoulos" seminar room, Frederick University, Nicosia.

About the project

Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) approximately represents one-third of the total waste generated by economic activities and households, which in EU-28 are about 2.5-3.0 billion tons per year. In several publications, it is reported that the Construction and Demolition Waste generation amount has been increased by an impressive percentage of 300% between the years 2003 – 2013. In Cyprus, specifically, the management of CDW appears to be underperforming, despite the fact that a comprehensive legislative framework concerning their management has been in place since 2011. In addition, over the last decade construction activities in Europe were accelerated, as well as
the rehabilitation activities for energy saving, as a general need to facilitate accommodation. 

According to a study carried out by the European Union, the high rate of household energy consumption over the past twenty years (250-300 Mtoe) is attributed to building requirements for heating, cooling, and ventilation, due to unsatisfactory thermal insulation. Further, only in recent years, the safety of such infrastructures has gained increasing attention, particularly the issue of fire. This transformation in the mentality is attributed to a series of large
fires that have taken place in the last years, which led to human casualties, major structural damages, and serious consequences for the regional economies. It has been reported that fire incidents in Europe have increased by a tragic percentage of more than 300% between the years 2010 – 2015. At the same time, the current market thermal insulation solutions consist of materials that are either combustible, or undergo spalling phenomena in case of fire incidents, or materials that have high costs or materials, the production of which results in high environmental impact.

The DEFEAT project tackles the above-mentioned barriers by developing on a pilot scale, and through detailed experimental study, an innovative separation method of CDW, as well as a composite material generated also from the CDW, which has low thermal conductivity, satisfactory mechanical properties, and at the same time is fire resistant. The produced material can be applied as a façade, either on existing or new construction projects.

Watch a video on the DEFEAT project here.

The Project DEFEAT (INTEGRATED/0918/0052) has been co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cyprus Government, through the RESTART 2016-20 framework program of the Cyprus Research & Innovation Foundation.

Project partners are: Frederick Research Center (coordinator), University of Cyprus, Latomia Farmakas Plc, RRC (RESOURCE RECOVERY CYPRUS), RECS, Stratagem, Federation of the Building Contractors Associations of Cyprus, Ministry of Transport's Department of Public Works, Ministry of Agriculture's Department of Environment, Leuven Katholieke Universiteit.