The Organising and Scientific Committees of the Fifth International Conference on the Environmental and Technical Implications of Construction with Alternative Materials (WASCON 2003), in San Sebastian, Spain, on 4, 5 & 6 June 2003, are pleased to present the Proceedings of this Conference, which deals with the Science and Engineering of Recycling for Environmental Protection.
WASCON 2003; is announced as "Progress on the Road to Sustainability". Sustainability means meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. To apply this principle to the construction and waste recycling industry WASCON 2003 conference will provide ways to overcome technical, environmental, economical and regulatory barriers for construction with alternative materials. The challenge is to use less virgin material and less energy, cause less pollution and produce less waste but still provide the benefits that processing and marketing of secondary and recycled materials could bring us.
The Conference represents a forum to stimulate debate and promote communication on issues of interest to engineers, scientists, regulators, state and private organisations, and those engaged in approaching the complex issues of sustainability and their application to the construction and waste recycling process
The conference provides a European and international approach for the new advances in relevant topics related to environmental and technical implications of construction with alternative materials, in terms of long term behaviour of secondary and recycled materials, environmental assessment of this practice, soil contamination protection, recycled aggregates and cement recycled products and processes for conversion of wastes in secondary materials. Of no less importance is the exchange of the accumulating amounts of information in this sphere of activity worldwide, developments in legislation and examples on how regulations affect business and the environment
The Organising and Scientific Committees are encouraged by the excellent response to their call for papers, 206 abstracts were received from 28 countries and we thank all who have contributed to this edition. The Final Program compiles a wide range of innovative ideas that are expressed in papers submitted and it is also interesting to note that WASCON 2003 Program offers 82 oral presentation and 29 posters coming from 23 countries. We hope that the conference will contribute to reach real progress on the road to sustainability.
Organising a major international conference requires a considerable amount of work for those involved and we would like to express our thanks to the following persons and organisations:
Members of the Scientific and Organising Committees:
Fundación INASMET
Fundación LABEIN
CITMA
ISCOWA and in particular its President, Dr J.J.J.M. Goumans
Sponsors and Supporting Organisations:
Gobierno Vasco
Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa
Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología
Aser. Grupo Befesa
Aceralia Redondos. Grupo Arcelor
Oñeder, S.A.
Cementos Rezola Italcementi Group
Aclima
Basque Experience
On behalf of the Organising Committee,
Dr. Gregorio Ortiz de Urbina