Introduction

This chapter is devoted to plant aggregates, plant concrete, and industrial valorization: characterization – formulation, multiphysical properties, and eco-design. It reports the main results of 9 research works on two aspects aiming essentially to valorize local biosourced materials and the residues of treatment of certain biomaterials. The common objective is to find new solutions for construction and consumption more respectful of the environment. All the works start with a thorough bibliographical study of the previous works proposed in the literature and reinforce their study, followed by state of art related to the problem, the uses of the elaborated biobased products, to their performances in comparison with the conventional materials. They end with a conclusion summarizing the most reliable results, accompanied sometimes by recommendations or perspectives. The 1st part regroups the works of four papers dedicated to elaborating construction biomaterials with raw or treated biosourced materials of vegetable origin, which are previously analyzed, and to the study of their physical-mechanical properties according to the operating conditions. Biomaterials elaborated are classical concrete, foam concrete, biobased structural concretes, biobased panels, insulating biomaterials, raw earth bricks, and fired clay bricks. The biobased materials tested are hemp shives, hemp fibers, Posidonia oceanica waste, wheat straw, sunflower seed pith, and de-inked paper sludge. The properties tested are density, bulk density, porosity, mechanical strength, heat resistance, mold resistance, and thermal conductivity. The 2nd part gathers the works of five papers relating to the valorization of the waste resulting from the biosourced materials beforehand physically treated. The 1st concerns the treatment of soils contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by using biochar as a growth medium for microorganisms. The 2nd concerns the choice of biomaterial(s) capable of reducing the biogas produced (CO2 and CH4) during the biodegradation of a mixture of wood ash (WA), de-inked paper sludge (DPS), and mixed paper sludge (MPS). The last work presents the extraction of creosote oils from creosote-treated wood waste from railroad ties by fast pyrolysis to decontaminate them.