Commercialising reclaimed materials in earthworks – guidelines for productization and the process of appending these materials in the Finnish national code of practice

To decrease the use of non-renewable natural resources as well as environmental effects of earthworks, natural aggregate materials can be replaced with recycled materials acquired from surplus soil, industrial by-products and waste, etc. When wishing to increase the usage of these reclaimed materials (=“UUMA”- material), the usage must be straightforward for developers, designers and constructors alike. To make this possible, the materials must have design guidelines for their appropriate applications, they must be productized and CE marked or otherwise authorized, and the construction guidelines for the materials must be included in the Finnish general specifications for infrastructural construction works (InfraRYL). As productization is especially important in increasing the usage of UUMA-materials, guidelines for vendors are being drawn that present information on commercializing reclaimed materials to be used in earthworks. The guidelines for productization are being prepared in the Finnish national UUMA2 program (2013-2017, www.uuma2.fi), which was created to promote the use of recycled materials in earthworks.