Page 4 - Open-Access-Jan-2020

point of view

CONStRUCtION aNd

dEMOLItION WaStE

RECYCLING IN EUROpE:

LONG-tERM tRENdS aNd

CHaLLENGES aHEad VIncEnT BAsuyAu

Abstract • Managing occupational health, safety and environment all
along the recovery operations with specific attention to
Urban areas are critical for resource efficiency and circular hazardous waste separate treatment,
construction.
• Setting the principle of non-discrimination with regard to
With half of all extracted materials and energy, and one third of the performance assessment and effective acceptance
the total waste generated, the construction sector is one of the of secondary materials by public project sponsors and
greatest stake in the European Union’s (EU) efforts to make its technical prescribers and thus opening public and private
economy circular. construction markets to recycled products.

The European Commission has undertaken specific initiatives The long-term challenge is to anticipate the consumption of
to promote a more efficient use of resources in the construction materials and waste generation by putting into practice new
sector through a better management of construction and approaches for buildings and infrastructures design in order to:
demolition waste. • Optimise the consumption and the performance of
The Circular Economy Package has impulsed measures requiring construction products and to enable lower natural resource
construction sector stakeholders to mainstream the re-use, consumption,
recycling and recovery of construction and demolition waste. • Enable adaptability and reversibility of buildings and
infrastructures to respond better to users’ needs along the
In the short and medium term, the management of raw materials lifecycle,
and waste in construction should be improved by intensifying • Make buildings dismountable when time comes for
the necessary actions for saving non-renewable natural renovation, transformation or demolition in order to recover
resources and for recovering waste not merely in volume but in as much as possible the construction components and their
value as well. Achieving the 70% recovery target of the Waste economic value.
Framework Directive is compulsory, but beyond this objective, The construction sector should define its own principles and
the construction value chain should better close the loop by:
tools according to these new approaches and thus integrate
• Banning landfilling of all recyclable construction and fully the objectives of circular economy.
demolition waste,
• Setting construction and demolition waste processing 1. INtRoDUCtIoN
facilities in or close to urban areas, Construction and demolition waste (CDW) have long been an
• Enforcing mandatory pre-demolition and renovation work issue ignored by our urban societies. Most often, such CDW
waste audits, were discarded in unregistered landfills of cities outskirts or in
• Implementing selective demolition and sorting on-site as quarry backfills in nearby countryside.
much as possible, Since the boom in construction, from the second half of the
• Ensuring traceability all along the recovery process from twentieth century, both the supply of construction materials and
waste removal until re-use or recycling, the elimination of CDW have progressively risen attention from
• Promoting the fulfilment of construction products standards local, national and European authorities as well as environmental
and quality insurance for secondary materials and products, protection associations or local resident communities.

© European Union, 2019
The content of this article does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views
expressed in therein lies entirely with the author.

8 The IndIan ConCreTe Journal | JanuarY 2020