Representatives of IRCOW (Innovative Strategies for High-Grade Material Recovery from Construction and Demolition Waste), C2CA (Advanced Technologies for the Production of Cement and Clean Aggregates from Construction and Demolition Waste) and HISER collaborated in a joint “Circular economy: Construction and Demolition waste recycling in action” workshop organized by the European Commission which took place in April 2015.
The purpose of the workshop was to compare findings of the FP7-projects IRCOW and C2CA and to draw conclusions referring to the possible ways of making C&DW management profitable. During the event HISER representatives, most of them also participants in IRCOW and C2CA projects, presented a range of differing approaches to the issue, reflecting distinct European contexts. Namely, experiences from The Netherlands (TUDELT, STRUKTON), Belgium (VITO, VCB) and Spain (TECNALIA, ACCIONA, D’APPOLONIA, DERRIBOS PETRALANDA) were described. Officers from the European Commission and a few invited expert guests from the industry, universities and public environmental bodies completed the list of participants in the event organized on April 23rd in Brussels.
In Spain traditional mixed rubble down-cycling still seems to be the most inexpensive option (according to analyses linked to a case study from IRCOW), companies in the Netherlands or Belgium start to build profit-making alliances along the value chain to valorise the waste from the demolition in a wider and more systematic way. Radical differences in market dynamics, primarily due to availability and price of primary raw materials, but also due to treatment/disposal fee schemes (eventually stimulating getting rid of a rather mixed waste from a more inexpensive demolition rather than onsite separation) were pointed out by participants. Furthermore, some participants claimed that the specifics of some national/regional environmental regulations were enforcing economically and environmentally unsound situations (due to e.g. the unavailability of corresponding waste managers in the surroundings of work sites). On the other hand, lack of homogeneous (preferably European) reference standards for recycled materials in potential applications was discussed. Finally, the transfer of waste ownership to the demolition company is said to be unfair for this actor, particularly in the event of unexpected waste streams or quantities for which the commissioner of works is not willing to pay for.
Successful business examples were presented, such as the sectorial agreement on cellular concrete started in 2013 in Belgium by OVAM (HISER Advisory Board Member) or the agreement for concrete between construction (also specialist in demolition and recycling) company STRUKTON and concrete manufacturer MEBIN (both HISER partners) in The Netherlands. This second agreement, in which trade costs along the value chain can be kept at minimum , ensures ready mix concrete containing up to 30% of known quality recycled aggregate and calcium-rich fines as a replacement of a virgin limestone for cement, and creates a strong pull for high grade secondary raw materials at the end of the value chain.
Onsite recovery of materials, saving transportation costs, was presented as another element towards the profitability of recycling. Nevertheless, ambitious environmental regulations such as the one for the Basque Country, requiring permits for even small waste quantities (e.g. 10 tons of concrete) and similar environmental protection as for stationary plants (e.g. concrete slab and leaching collection for an onsite crusher) might jeopardize the profitability of such activities.
The baton has been handed over to HISER by its predecessors to provide innovative solutions in the race to meet Horizon 2020 objectives. Relevant information collected from the workshop will be considered in the development of policy and standard recommendations.
Iñigo Vegas
Tecnalia Research & Innovation
IRCOW coordinator
IRCOW: Innovative Strategies for High-Grade Material Recovery from Construction and Demolition Waste
Francesco Di Maio
Technische Universiteit Delft
C2CA coordinator
C2CA: Advanced Technologies for the Production of Cement and Clean Aggregates from Construction and Demolition Waste
Amaia Lisbona
Tecnalia Research & Innovation
HISER coordinator