Dynamic Eco‐Efficiency Projections for Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Strategies at the City Level

Abstract

Keywordsbuildings construction demolition industrial ecology recycling renovation SummaryIn this article we have elaborated a consistent framework for the quantification and evaluation of eco-efficiency for scenarios for waste treatment of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Such waste systems will play an increasingly important role in the future, as there has been for many years, and still is, a significant net increase in stock in the built environment. Consequently, there is a need to discuss future waste management strategies, both in terms of growing waste volumes, stricter regulations, and sectorial recycling ambitions, as well as a trend for higher competition and a need for professional and optimized operations within the C&D waste industry. It is within this framework that we develop and analyze models that we believe will be meaningful to the actors in the C&D industry. Here we have outlined a way to quantify future C&D waste generation and have developed realistic scenarios for waste handling based on today's actual practices. We then demonstrate how each scenario is examined with respect to specific and aggregated cost and environmental impact from different end-of-life treatment alternatives for major C&D waste fractions. From these results, we have been able to suggest which fractions to prioritize, in order to minimize cost and total environmental impact, as the most eco-efficient way to achieve an objective of overall system performance.

A Dynamic Model for Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management in Spain: Driving Policies Based on Economic Incentives and Tax Penalties

“…The research institutions have the advantage of the availability of infrastructure and qualified staff to successfully develop R&D in this field so that the cost of concentrating research efforts can be reduced. In this sense, the research interest for C&D management has increased in the last years but there is not yet systematic research development [25]. Therefore, there should be programs to support scientific R&D in this discipline (Line 11).…”

“…Since the reduction of waste by construction companies (generators) has become a very complex task, the importance of specialized staff for directing the waste management tasks has emerged as an important new topic [25]. Reinforcing the external control of public supervisors, an effective in-house measure would be the creation of the so-called Environmental Project Manager (EPM).…”

Historical energy analysis of the Norwegian dwelling stock

“…This system draws upon (virgin) raw material from natural resources and pushes (waste) materials into the waste-management system. The use of recycled materials in construction is negligible, but waste materials from demolition are reused in other systems, mainly in infrastructure or as energy source in district heating (Bohne et al, 2008).…”

Economic viability analysis of a construction and demolition waste recycling plant in Portugal – part II: economic sensitivity analysis

“…Sensitivity analyses have proved to be extremely useful in scientific studies not only on building analysis (Junnila, 2004;International Energy Agency, 2005;Palme et al, 2008), but also on industrial products (Vadde et al, 2007) and CDW recycling operations (Bohne et al, 2008). Although special purpose methods have been developed to perform sensitivity analysis from a general mathematical standpoint, as in Saltelli et al (2004), techniques such as variance-based methods and Monte Carlo filtering are not used in the present analysis, which as a consequence is greatly simplified.…”