Application of inert wastes in the construction, operation and closure of landfills: Calculation tool

Abstract

Waste from construction and demolition activities represents one of the highest volumes of waste in Europe. 500 million tonnes are produced throughout the whole EU every year. In some EU members like Spain, approximately 83 per cent of such waste is disposed in landfills. The remaining part is classified and processed in treatment facilities so that it can later be used as recycled aggregates in the construction sector (sand, gravel, aggregates, etc.) but without much commercial success. The aim of this study is to use recycled aggregates from inert wastes (IW) in the different phases of a landfill (construction, operation and closure) with the aid of a new computer tool called LABWASTE.14. This tool incorporates the mathematical relationship among the activities of the landfill and provides as a result the economic viability of using recycled aggregates compared to aggregates from quarries.Therefore, knowing the needs of aggregates in landfills (dams, drainage layers, covering layers, collection wells, etc.) may determine the amount of IW that could be recovered. These 2 calculations can be obtained from some of the data that is introduced (population, land physiography, etc.). Furthermore, the use of LABWASTE.14 makes it possible to reduce the demand for aggregates from quarries. IntroductionConstruction and demolition wastes (CDW) are a growing problem in many countries. They account for large part of the waste generated in cities and they are usually placed in landfills (Ekanayake and Ofori, 2004). CDW represents around 31% of all waste produced in the European Union (EU) (Fisher and Werge, 2009). It is nowadays acknowledged that the consumption of raw materials in the construction industry is a non-sustainable activity. It is thus necessary to reduce this consumption, and the volume of CDW dumped, by using this waste as a source of raw materials for the production of recycled aggregates (Rodrigues et al., 2013). In fact, in many EU countries a very limited amount of CDW is recycled, the greatest portion being deposited or used as fill material (Masood et al., 2002). However, recycling concrete waste will lead to a reduction in valuable landfill space and savings in natural resources (Tabsh and Abdeltatah, 2009). Because of this, in the EU, the strategic plans about waste include CDW. The European Action Plan on the Circular Economy includes a number of actions that will target market barriers in specific sectors or material streams, such as construction and demolition wastes as well as horizontal measures in areas such as innovation and investment (EU, 2015). All these regulations establish the minimum requirements for their production and management, in order to promote prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery. The EU Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC) introduces recycling and recovery targets to be achieved by 2020 for household waste (50%) and construction and 3 demolition waste (70%). Furthermore, recycling CDW makes it possible to achieve considerable savings on energy and...

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