Blog written by María Pilar Casalé, Manager and Project Developer at Casalé Gestión de Residuos
Exploring the Origins, Classification, and Sustainable Solutions for Construction and Demolition Waste in Spain
What do you know about construction and demolition waste?
What is it?
Construction and Demolition Wastes (CDW) are primarily inert wastes, about 75%, generated in excavation works, new construction, repair, remodeling, rehabilitation, and demolition, including minor construction and home repair (source).
In Aragon, approximately 500 tons of CDW are generated annually.
At the European level, an average of 800 million tons of this waste are generated annually. Unlike other types of waste, such as packaging or urban solid waste, CDW is not directly related to the population or their usual consumption. This is because its origin lies in the transformation of cities and changes in infrastructure.
What types of waste are found, and in what quantities?
CDW can be classified according to their origin (construction, demolition, minor/major works, etc.) or their nature (inert, hazardous, or non-hazardous). There is also a group of European Waste Catalogue codes that encompass these types of waste. However, given their heterogeneous and mixed characteristics, the task of managing construction and demolition waste is essential. Although Law 7/2022 on Waste and Contaminated Soils for a Circular Economy is already in force, which establishes that waste hierarchy must be followed, and separation on-site whenever possible, the reality is that recycling plants receive a very heterogeneous portion, mainly loaded with plastic waste.
How are they managed?
The environmental impact of CDW occurs in two stages. On one hand, negative impact is generated by the extraction of aggregates and materials used in construction, which will become part of CDW once produced. On the other hand, the waste generated itself produces a negative environmental impact. CDW arriving at recycling plants generally undergo a phase of separation and classification. The inert fraction is usually crushed, screened, and used for the production of recycled aggregates, cement, recycled concrete, or structural elements. The mixed fraction, which accounts for approximately 25% of the waste received, is generally classified by separating plastic, wood, cardboard, glass, and hazardous waste. They are all delivered to waste managers specialized in each of them.
How to reduce them?
Eco-design in construction is an interesting and effective way, which has been carried out for a short time, but which can facilitate the valorization of waste that may be produced in the future when the infrastructure built with eco-design is dismantled. The use of certain materials or combinations thereof can favor the building’s resistance and facilitate subsequent deconstruction by separating different construction materials on-site for reuse or recycling.
Deconstruction, as such, could be considered the “ordered” evolution of traditional demolition. A total demolition with heavy machinery, without considering that the waste generated is being mixed, prevents more efficient valorization of the same. Some companies are becoming aware and decide to carry out controlled demolitions, in phases, trying to separate and take advantage of all structural elements, thus avoiding the indiscriminate mixing of waste.
Blog written by María Pilar Casalé, Manager and Project Developer at Casalé Gestión de Residuos
References:
- https://www.comunidad.madrid/servicios/urbanismo-medio-ambiente/residuos-construccion-demolicion-rcd#:~:text=Los%20RCD%20son%20residuos%20de,obra%20menor%20y%20reparaci%C3%B3n%20domiciliaria
- https://libreria.fundacionlaboral.org/extpublicaciones/gestionresiduos2.pdf )
- https://servicios3.aragon.es/iaeaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=/14/11/04&file=pcaxis
- https://cdwvalue.eu/#:~:text=Today%2C%20over%20800%20million%20tonnes,generated%20per%20year%20in%20Europe
- https://asegre.com/ler-listado-europeo-de-residuos-oficial/
