Sustainable Utilization of Construction and Demolition Waste

It is certain that worldwide, construction and demolition (C&D) waste with its massive quantity and its adverse effect on the environment is a real threat to mankind. It is associated with high risk of environmental pollution and resource depletion. Reusing the C&D waste from construction is the best end of life alternative based on its environmental impact. Unfortunately, it is not yet common practice in the construction industry, which involves more complex procedures that do not allow for dismantling and reusing the materials easily and cost-effectively. Moreover, the traditional recycling techniques conventionally applied do not guarantee sufficient quality to use the derived recycled products in high-grade applications in addition to the problem of mixed waste. In mixed C&D waste, the content of contaminants such as organic matter, e.g., wood, plastics, etc., and gypsum in the recycled fractions must be minimized. In the case of very heterogeneous waste streams, more rigorous separation and cleaning techniques are needed to achieve the required levels of purity. Thus, the most obvious difficulty for obtaining upgraded C&D recycled materials lies in finding the right combination of inexpensive traditional separation techniques with further advanced automated sorting techniques easily adaptable to diverse generation systems. Providing more cost-effective recycling techniques is the key to approach zero waste in C&D management. This chapter has presented a summary of the C&D waste stream and its characteristics and quantification methodologies as well as their end of life treatment in an aim to approach sustainable C&D waste management.