The use of urban biowaste and excavated soil in the construction sector: A literature review

Scialpi, Giulia; Perrotti, Daniela

doi:10.1177/0734242x211000430

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…As reflected in Table 16, the diversity of uses for biowaste in the main sectors of the EU bio-based economy is wide. Furthermore, said waste streams can also be used in other sectors/activities, such as construction or animal feed [92][93][94][95]. Overall, there is significant potential for improvement in the reintegration of biowaste streams into the bioeconomy.…”

Section: Potential Of These Alternative Raw Materials In the Eu Bioec...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of EU Bio-Based Economy Sectors Based on Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Technical Indicators

Fernández Ocamica,

Bernardes Figueirêdo,

Zapata

et al. 2024

Sustainability

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The development of a resilient and circular bio-based economy is of paramount importance, notably in the EU, where current climate policies and evolving regulations strongly demand more sustainable practices, impacting monitoring and reporting, as well as the deployment of novel valorization routes for byproducts and waste streams. In this context, with the aim of assessing the current state of the European bio-based economy, a comprehensive analysis based on socio-environmental, socioeconomic, and technical indicators was carried out on major sectors, namely textiles, woodworking, pulp and paper, bio-based chemicals and materials, liquid biofuels, and bio-based electricity. Each sector was evaluated with respect to its main biological raw materials, and a methodology is proposed to link their geographical origin (inside or outside the EU), import shares, and internal production with socio-environmental impacts, based on official databases and indexes. Socioeconomic data (turnover and employment) and technical data (average bio-based content within the main products of the sector) were also considered for the analyses, allowing a multi-angle comparison between sectors and the identification of barriers and opportunities for future developments. Finally, a quantitative and qualitative overview of non-hazardous biogenic waste streams generated in the EU is presented, and opportunities for their valorization and reintegration into the EU bio-based economy are discussed. As a result of this analysis, beyond enabling the assessment of each sector within the bio-based economy, along with the assignment of values for comparison, the implementation of this evaluation facilitated the identification of improvement pathways, which were consolidated into a set of proposals.

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Section: Potential Of These Alternative Raw Materials In the Eu Bioec...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of EU Bio-Based Economy Sectors Based on Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Technical Indicators

Fernández Ocamica,

Bernardes Figueirêdo,

Zapata

et al. 2024

Sustainability

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“…At the European level, the European Commission (EC) has identified critical raw resources, construction, demolition, and bio-based materials as five priority sectors for realizing this vision (EC, 2015). The EC has set ambitious targets to recycle 70% of all building and demolition waste and 65% of all municipal solid waste (MSW) by 2030 [56].…”

Section: Custom Growth Medium Based On Thermal Economic and Efficienc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Role and Efficiency of Thermal Insulation by the “BIO-GREEN PANEL” in Enhancing Sustainability in a Built Environment

Almusaed,

Almssad,

Alasadi

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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The pressing concern of climate change and the imperative to mitigate CO2 emissions have significantly influenced the selection of outdoor plant species. Consequently, evaluating CO2’s environmental effects on plants has become integral to the decision-making process. Notably, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings is significant in tackling the consequences of climate change and addressing energy deficiencies. This article presents a novel approach by introducing plant panels as an integral component in future building designs, epitomizing the next generation of sustainable structures and offering a new and sustainable building solution. The integration of environmentally friendly building materials enhances buildings’ indoor environments. Consequently, it becomes crucial to analyze manufacturing processes in order to reduce energy consumption, minimize waste generation, and incorporate green technologies. In this context, experimentation was conducted on six distinct plant species, revealing that the energy-saving potential of different plant types on buildings varies significantly. This finding contributes to the economy’s improvement and fosters enhanced health-related and environmental responsibility. The proposed plant panels harmonize various building components and embody a strategic approach to promote health and well-being through bio-innovation. Furthermore, this innovative solution seeks to provide a sustainable alternative by addressing the challenges of unsustainable practices, outdated standards, limited implementation of new technologies, and excessive administrative barriers in the construction industry. The obtained outcomes will provide stakeholders within the building sector with pertinent data concerning performance and durability. Furthermore, these results will enable producers to acquire essential information, facilitating product improvement.

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“…Soil reuse with or without treatment [5,6] reduces the burden on nonrenewable resources by minimizing the use of quarry materials to meet the demands of the construction industry and preserve the natural resources, such as sand and rock [7]. Excavated soil can be used in different applications, such as landscaping, agronomy, backfilling of quarries, building materials [8], roads, embankments, dikes, etc., with some limitations and possibilities [9]. For recycling excavated soils, their physicochemical, mineralogical, microstructural, and hydromechanical characteristics and analysis of pollutants are necessary [6,10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility for the Recovery of Excavated Soils in Compressed Earth Blocks as a Sustainable Building Material

Hussain,

Zmamou,

Provost

et al. 2023

Environments

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Soil is continuously excavated for development activities in urban and rural areas and treated as waste. This study investigates the characteristics of urban soils excavated from earthworks of buildings in the Brittany region of France for their perspective reuse in earthen construction materials to valorize soil waste and provide a sustainable building material locally. Excavated soil from earthwork activities was taken from the Brittany region of France from three different locations. Soil suitability for compressed earth blocks was investigated based on their granulometry, consistency limits, and mineralogy. Finally, compressed earth blocks with dimensions of 4 × 4 × 16 cm3 were manufactured with different formulations and compacted dynamically. Flexural and compressive strength tests were performed on bricks to observe their mechanical behavior. Grain size analysis of soil samples shows that the percentage of clay in the landfill stockpile of excavated soils varies between 13% and 16%, while at some local sites, the percentage of clay goes up to 57%. The grain size of soils varies from the recommended zone. The plasticity of soil samples ranges from 17.3% to 20.4%. The plasticity index and clay content of the soil show that these soils are inactive clays with a lesser possibility of swelling and shrinkage. Mineralogical analysis of soil shows the absence of water-sensitive clay minerals, while quartz, kaolinite, and illite are major minerals present in soils. Linear shrinkage in bricks ranges from 0.6% to 2.2% and is considerably higher for clayey soils. Mechanical testing of earth bricks shows that the compressive strength of earth blocks ranges from 0.92 MPa to 2.22 MPa while the flexural strength ranges from 0.25 to 0.74 MPa. A mixture of sandy and clayey soils shows good strength due to improved granulometry. Earth bricks with soils from some stockpiles, excavation sites, and soil mixture show compressive strength higher than 1 MPa, which is recommended strength by international standards, and offer the opportunity to produce sustainable building materials locally.

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The use of urban biowaste and excavated soil in the construction sector: A literature review

Cited by 16 publications

References 91 publications

Assessment of EU Bio-Based Economy Sectors Based on Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Technical Indicators

Assessment of EU Bio-Based Economy Sectors Based on Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Technical Indicators

Assessing the Role and Efficiency of Thermal Insulation by the “BIO-GREEN PANEL” in Enhancing Sustainability in a Built Environment

Feasibility for the Recovery of Excavated Soils in Compressed Earth Blocks as a Sustainable Building Material

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