GEORIS: Turning industrial waste into sustainable construction materials

GEORIS, a circular materials consortium supported by EIT RawMaterials, has validated its breakthrough technology to convert environmentally hazardous industrial residues into sustainable construction materials. 

Instead of sending waste to landfills, the project demonstrates how industrial byproducts such as bauxite residue and steel slag can be transformed into durable, cost-effective pavement blocks and other products.

The project enabled us to better monitor the materials’ durability under exposure to real environments and working conditions. We successfully validated our concept and upscaled in real life. The support from EIT RawMaterials was critical in making this collaboration possible
Christos Georgopoulos, project lead and chemical engineer at Enalos

Impact Highlights

Led by Enalos, a Greek specialist in tunnelling, mining, and materials, the project has secured a €680,000 grant from EIT RawMaterials. This funding enabled Enalos to establish a strong consortium with KU Leuven, one of Belgium’s most renowned universities, SIJ Acroni, a leading steel producer in Slovenia, and ZAG, Slovenia’s National Building and Civil Engineering Institute. In the pilot phase in Greece, the partners successfully used 4 tons of bauxite residue to pave a 250 m² parking area, demonstrating cost savings of up to 25% compared with conventional cement-based paving blocks. 

The project also showcased its strong circular economy potential, with over 62% of raw materials in the pilot sourced from SIJ Acroni. Building on this success, the consortium’s next milestone is to complete product standardisation under the Construction Products Regulation and expand the technology to other Eastern and Southeastern European RIS regions, broadening its impact and market reach.

Learn more