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The production of virgin raw materials used in construction and the generation of construction and demolition waste (CDW) are key environmental issues in the construction industry. Portland cement and concrete are used extensively in the construction sector. Processing of CDW to produce recycled gypsum cement and recycled aggregates (RA) and their use in the production of structural and non-structural concrete are one way of slowing natural resource depletion and reducing the amount of CDW landfilled. This study proposes the application of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to compare the production of "green" concretes made from recycled gypsum cement (RGC) and RA with the production of conventional concrete made from natural aggregate and ordinary Portland cement. The VIKOR MCDA method was employed to determine the best or a set of good alternative(s) for concrete production, considering environmental and economic criteria. The life cycle assessment method was used to select the environmental evaluation criteria, and the reference cost of producing concrete alternatives in Spain was used to determine economic criteria. The results of this study, in which environmental and economic criteria were considered of equal weight, or one of the two criteria was given greater weight, showed that the best option for structural and non-structural concrete was the use of RGC and RA. In both cases, the worst alternative was conventional concrete. In conclusion, we found that the use of RGC and RA in concrete production is positive because it replaces the original raw material, reduces the environmental impact, and lowers the economic costs.

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Electric vehicles are one promising alternative towards a low carbon electric mobility future with less\ud dependency on fossil fuels. The European Union automotive industry is a global leader but there currently exists no\ud single EV targeted legislation that encourages the uptake of these sustainable technologies. In particular, the second\ud use of degraded electric vehicle batteries in energy storage systems represents emerging economic and environmental\ud opportunities as well as legal concerns that need to be addressed and managed in a timely manner. Hence, a more\ud efficient regulatory framework in place will further increase the integration of renewable energy sources into the power\ud system while at the same time creating a level playing field for an electric mobility transition in the European Union.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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