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MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION WASTE

Article  in  Journal of Environmental Research And Development · July 2010

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Journal of Environmental Research And Development Vol. 5 No. 1, July-September 2010

Review Paper (T)

MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION AND
DEMOLITION WASTE

Anantha Rama V.* and Lokeshwari M.

Department of Civil Engineering, R.V.College of Engineering, Bengaloru, Karnataka, (INDIA)

*E- mail : anantharama.vittal@gmail.com

: eshwari_env@yahoo.co.in

Received December 31, 2009 Accepted July 29, 2010

ABSTRACT

Waste materials are common problem in modern living. Waste accumulates from number of
sources including domestic, industrial, commercial, construction and demolition activity. A
significant portion of municipality waste is construction related. Proper management of
construction and demolition waste is important or else it will get mixed with municipal
waste. This type of mixing leads to cutting off the recycling options for C and D waste and
also reduces the efficiency of further municipal waste processing. Land disposal of C and D
waste presents a threat of ground water contamination because of trace amount of hazardous
constituents, which are some times encountered. In this article possibilities of C and D waste
recycling options are discussed, which includes recycling of concrete aggregate; their
properties and constrains in reusing of C and D waste concrete. This also highlights the
possible use of recycled aggregate in which further research is necessary.
Key Words : Municipal waste, C and D waste, Recycling, Strength, Recycled aggregate.

INTRODUCTION space consuming, and can also have

Waste generates from all human activities.
These waste materials have to be eventually
disposed off in ways that do not endanger
human health. In light of this, waste
minimization is increasingly seen as an
ecologically sustainable strategy for
alleviating the need to dispose of waste
materials, which is often costly, time and
* Author for correspondence
96
significant detrimental impacts on the natural
environment.1
Enormous growth in construction activities
increases the amount of construction waste.
Recycling of construction waste is an important
component of environmentally responsible
construction, as it reduces the amount of waste
directed to landfills. A significant portion of
municipality waste is construction related, so
its reduction becomes important. Construction
Journal of Environmental Research And Development
companies benefit by reducing the waste
generation in number of ways, including
reducing transportation and landfill deposition
costs, and purchasing costs of virgin materials.2
Construction and Demolition (C and D)
waste
Construction and demolition (C and D)
debris produced when new structures are
built and when existing structures are
renovated or demolished. Many definitions
of C and D debris also include trees, stumps,
earth, and rock from the clearing of
construction sites. Construction and
demolition debris means uncontaminated
solid waste resulting from the construction,
remodeling, repair and demolition of utilities,
structures and roads and uncontaminated
Fig. 1 : Generation of Construction and Demolition debris from buildings.
Characteristics of C and D Waste : The
Indian scenario
The idea of recycling concrete waste as
coarse aggregates for new construction is
gaining importance on the international
scale. In India very few attempts have been
made to use recycled aggregates on large
scale. Estimated waste generation during
construction and renovation work is 40-60
97
Vol. 5 No. 1, July-September 2010
solid waste resulting from land clearing.
When buildings are demolished, large
quantities of waste will be produced in a
relatively shorter period of time, depending
on the demolition technique used. On a per
building basis, demolition waste quantities
may be 20 to 30 times as much as
construction debris.3 Ordinary concrete
typically contains about 12% cement and
80% aggregate by mass. This means that
globally, for concrete making, we are
consuming sand, gravel, and crushed rock at
the rate of 10 to 11 billion tones every year.
Mining, processing, and transport operations
involving such large quantities of aggregate
consume considerable amounts of energy,
and adversely affect the ecology of forested
areas and riverbeds.
and 40- 50 kg/m2 respectively. The highest
contribution to waste generation is from
demolition of buildings, which yields 300-
500 kg/m2 of waste. Recycling technology
for C and D waste has to be established on a
pilot scale in India and is recommended that
application of recycled aggregates in
different construction activities are to be
demonstrated. Central road research Institute
Journal of Environmental Research And Development
Table 1 : Estimation of Quantity of different constituents of waste that arise from
construction industry in India is estimated as follows.
S.No Constituent Quantity generated in Million tones / Annum
1 Soil, Sand and Gravel
2 Bricks and Masonry
3 Concrete
4 Metals
5 Bitumen
6 Wood
7 Others
Source: http://www.cpcb.nic.in/ar 2003/ar2-3 ch 6 .htm
or Central Building Research Institute may
be involved to put up a pilot plant and
establish use of recycled aggregate in road
and building construction. In India concept
of recycling is not so popular compare to
other countries because,
1. Acceptability of recycled materials is
hampered due to the poor image
associated with recycling activity in
India.
2. Low dumping cost prevalent in India acts
as a barrier for recycling activity.
Imposition of considerable charge on
sanitary landfill can induce builders and
owners to divert the waste for recycling.
3. Non awareness of recycling possibilities
is one of the main barrier due to which
waste is disposed only in landfills.
4. There is lack of government support and
commitment towards development of
recycling industry. Development of
policy supported by proper regulatory
framework is necessary
5. Development of proper standards,
specifications for recycled materials
98
Vol. 5 No. 1, July-September 2010
4.2 – 5.14
3.6 – 4.4
2.4 – 3.67
0.6 – 0.73
0.25 – 0.3
0.25 – 0.3
0.1 – 0.15
would provide producers a targets and
users an assurance in quality of material.
Effects of C and D waste on environment:
Disposal of C and D waste has become a
major concern in recent years. Some building
owners, waste haulers and demolition
contractors are disposing this waste
improperly and illegally in order to avoid
transportation cost and tipping fee, at waste
disposal facilities. Illegal disposal sites have
discovered in gravel pits and ground water
recharging areas, on farm land and prime
residential property and low lying areas.
Potential ground water contamination results
from small amount of hazardous materials
such as organic compounds, heavy metals
that may be present in the substances that
have been applied to construction materials,
or by improper disposal of residues or bulk
chemicals in the waste stream.4-8 Degradation
of ground water quality may also results
from larger amount of generally non toxic
chemicals such as chloride, sodium, sulphate
and ammonia that may be present in leachate
generated from C and D waste materials,
when land filled. Therefore we can say that,
Journal of Environmental Research And Development
improper disposal of C and D waste does
pose a threat to ground water quality.
An illegal disposal site may also attract,
illegal disposal of other types of waste
including conventional municipal waste,
industrial waste and hazardous waste. These
would further impact the site and increase
further cost for cleaning up the contaminated
site. Open burning of demolition material is a
major concern. Plastic material, insulation
foam, painted wood will give toxic fumes
when burnt. Leachate from ashes impact the
ground water quality.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Recycling of construction and demolition
waste for the production of concrete is not
new. It is well known that, this was
successfully used previously in various forms
of construction during Second World War.
Europe utilized the recycled aggregates in its
reconstruction on a large scale.
Test results of Poon et.al., shows that,
replacement of coarse and fine natural
aggregates by recycled aggregates at the
levels of 25 and 50% had little effect on the
compressive strength of the bricks and
blocks, but higher levels of replacement
reduced the compressive strength. However,
the transverse strength of the specimens
increased as the percentage of the
replacement increased. Using recycled
aggregates as replacement for natural
aggregates at the level of up to 100%,
concrete paving blocks with a 28-day
compressive strength of not less than 49 MPa
can be produced without incorporation of fly
ash, while paving blocks for footway uses
with a lower compressive strength of 30 MPa
and masonry bricks can be produced with the
incorporation of fly ashes. Performance of
99
Vol. 5 No. 1, July-September 2010
bricks and blocks are also satisfactory in the
shrinkage and skid resistance tests.
Recent study at Hong Kong Polytechnic
University aims to develop a technique for
using recycled aggregates in molded concrete
bricks and paving blocks. The bricks are
expected to achieve a 28-day compressive
strength of not less than 7 MPa according to
the requirement of BS 6073 for masonry
units. The paving blocks are expected to
achieve either a 28-day compressive strength
of not less than 49 MPa according to
requirement of BS 6717. Laboratory trials
were carried out to prepare the molded
specimens with the dimension of 225×105
×75 mm, with up to 100% by weight of the
natural aggregates (both coarse and fine)
replaced by recycled aggregates. Attempts
were also made to incorporate fly ashes into
the bricks and blocks. Density, compressive
strength, transverse strength, shrinkage and
skid resistance of the specimens were
determined. In addition to the laboratory
trials, a plant trial was conducted to test the
feasibility of using recycled aggregates in
producing molded paving blocks in real
industrial production conditions.9-12
Successful application of recycled aggregate
in construction projects has been reported in
some European and American countries, as
reviewed by Desmyster and Vyncke. While
this type of material has been used in a large
amount in non-structural concretes or used as
road bases, its use in structural concrete is
limited. Only a few cases have been reported
on the use of recycled aggregates in
structural concrete, and the amount of
recycled aggregate used has generally been
limited to a low level of replacement of the
total weight of coarse aggregate. An example
is a viaduct and a marine lock project in the
Netherlands in 1988, and an office building
Journal of Environmental Research And Development
in the UK in 1999. In the first case, a total of
3
11,000 m of concrete in which 20% of the
coarse aggregates were replaced by recycled
aggregates were used in all parts of the
structures. Another reported case involved
3
the use of 4000 m of ready mixed concrete,
which were prepared with recycled
aggregates obtained from crushed concrete
railway sleepers to replace 40% of the coarse
aggregates. It should be noted that in these
cases recycled aggregates were used only to
replace the coarse natural aggregates.13-15
Limited use of recycled aggregate in
structural concrete is due to the inherent
deficiency of this type of material. In
comparison with natural normal weight
aggregates, recycled aggregates are weaker,
more porous and have higher values of water
absorption. Results of research studies show
that, when recycled aggregates obtained from
crushed concrete are used to replace up to
20% by weight of the coarse natural
aggregate in concrete, little effect on the
properties of concrete is noticed. However,
when used at a higher level of replacement,
the high water absorption ability of recycled
aggregate results in a higher total water
demand. This renders control of the free
water-to-cement ratio (w/c) and the
workability of fresh concrete difficult and,
results in a higher shrinkage and creep of the
hardened concrete when compared with the
concrete prepared with natural aggregates.
The extent to which the properties of
concrete are affected by the use of recycled
aggregate depends on the water absorption,
crushing value and soundness of the recycled
aggregate. Recycled-concrete aggregate,
particularly the recycled masonry aggregate,
has a higher porosity than natural aggregate.
Therefore, with a given workability, the
100
Vol. 5 No. 1, July-September 2010
water requirement for making fresh concrete
tends to be high and mechanical properties of
hardened concrete are adversely affected.
The problem can be resolved by using blends
of recycled and natural aggregate or by using
water-reducing admixtures and fly ash in
concrete.16-20
However, the disadvantages of using recycled
aggregates in structural concrete can be
avoided in concrete mixtures for mechanized
molded concrete bricks and blocks. This is
because in manufacturing concrete bricks and
blocks using a mechanized molding machine,
the mixed materials are molded under a
combined vibrating and compacting action.
The requirement for maintaining a workable
mix is not so important. Only a minimal
amount of water is needed to make the mixture
fluid enough to be fed into the molding
machine. This reduces the difficulties of
controlling the w/c ratio and workability. Also,
the low water content of the concrete mixtures
for the molded bricks and blocks significantly
reduces the creep and shrinkage of the
hardened products. An attempt has been made
by Collins et al to use recycled aggregates in
making blocks for a beam and block floor
system. The blocks were 440×215×100 mm in
dimension and were produced at a block
factory. Recycled aggregates were used to
replace 25 to 75% by weight of the natural
aggregate (including coarse and fine
aggregates). A compressive strength of 6.75
MPa and a transverse strength of 1.23 MPa
were reported for the blocks with 75% of the
natural aggregates replaced by recycled
aggregates.
Research on environmental impacts of
building materials or sustainable construction
is also being carried out in, for example,
Germany, Austria, US, Japan and Australia.
Journal of Environmental Research And Development
Suitability of recycled aggregate in
construction : Only part of C and D waste
recycled aggregate is suitable for use in non-
structural concrete. The C and D waste visual
sorting, crushing, and sieving approach is
insufficient to produce recycled raw material
for use in structural concrete. Nevertheless,
there is variability in C and D waste
aggregate composition and other physical
properties such as bulk specific gravity and
water absorption, which interfere in concrete
and mortar performances.22
Therefore, fast and reliable characterization
techniques must be developed in order to
classify C and D waste according to their
possible uses. Furthermore, this variability
demands C and D waste quality control and
technological approach to both concrete and
mortar applications. Analyzing the specifica-
tions of recycled coarse aggregate for
concrete, the sink-float products with
specific gravity above 2.3 g/cm3, equivalent
to more than 70% (w/w), would present
physical qualities to be used in structural
concrete, which market is essentially
dominated by conven-tional natural
aggregates. Based on physical properties of
the attained products a size classification
followed by gravity concentra-tion would
allow producing an aggregate for use in
structural concrete as well as high strength
concretes.23
The end-use of the aggregate recovered from
concrete waste depends on its cleanness and
soundness, which are controlled by the
source of origin of the rubble and the
processing technology. Aggregate recovered
from surplus fresh concrete in pre-casting
yards and ready-mixed concrete plants are
generally clean and similar in properties to
the virgin aggregate. Concrete rubble from
demolition of road pavements and hydraulic
101
Vol. 5 No. 1, July-September 2010
structures requires screening to remove the
fines. Many laboratory and field studies have
shown that the size fraction of the concrete
rubble corresponding to coarse aggregate can
be satisfactorily used as a substitute for
natural aggregate. A comparison of proper-
ties of concrete from natural aggregate and
the recycled concrete aggregate shows that
the latter would give at least two-third of the
compressive strength and the elastic modulus
of natural aggregate.24
CONCLUSION
In addition to environmental protection,
conservation of natural aggregate resources,
shortage of waste disposal land, and
increasing cost of waste treatment prior to
disposal are the principal factors responsible
for growing interest in recycling concrete
waste as aggregate.25 Masonry and bricks can
be crushed and used in place of gravel, as
aggregate in low grade concrete, as unbound
base course material or for low grade fill
material. High quality bricks can be cleaned
and reused whole.26
Apart from reconstruction, construction
demolition, debris also results from natural
calamities. Depletion in the supply of quality
aggregates has lead to the use of recycled
aggregates. Prevention of the environment
and conservation of rapidly diminishing
natural resources should be the essence of
sustainable development. There is critical
shortage of natural aggregate for the
production of new concrete on the other hand
enormous quantity of demolished concrete
produced from deteriorated and obsolete
structures, creates ecological and environ-
menttal problems. Recycling of aggregate
materials from construction and demolition
waste may reduce the demand supply gap in
both the sectors. C and D wastes are
normally composed of concrete rubbles,
Journal of Environmental Research And Development
bricks and tiles, sand and dust, timber,
plastics, cardboard and paper, and metals.
Concrete rubbles usually constitute the
largest proportion of the C and D waste. It
has been shown that the crushed concrete
rubble, after separated from other C and D
wastes and sieved, can be used as a substitute
for natural coarse aggregates in concrete or
as a sub-base or base layer in pavements.
This type of recycled material is called
recycled aggregate. Construction and demoli-
tion waste consists of masonry and old
concrete rubble. This presents a great
opportunity for the concrete industry to
improve its resource productivity by using
coarse aggregate derived from construction
and demolition wastes. In many parts of the
world, dredged sands and mining wastes can
be processed for use as fine aggregate.
Recycling these wastes in spite of some
processing cost is becoming economical,
particularly in countries where land is scare
and waste disposal costs are very high. In
addition, virgin aggregate deposits have
already been depleted in many areas, and
hauling aggregates over long distances can
be much more expensive than using a free or
a low-cost source of local recycled
aggregate. Recycled concrete, in some cases,
is being used as a road fill, which is better
than landfill but it is “down-cycling” in the
sense that virgin aggregate continues to be
used for making new concrete.
Increased reuse and recycling can therefore
be encouraged by the use of economic
instruments and can contribute to a more
sustainable construction industrys. However,
recycling has its own share of impacts arising
from transport and processing that should be
considered in the decision-making process
and the Best Practicable Environment Option
(BPEO) for a particular construction waste
102
Vol. 5 No. 1, July-September 2010
stream will vary depending on local
circumstances.27
In general, the recycled products are civil
construction aggregates mostly used in
pavement activities. However, this use is not
sufficient to consume all produced Construc-
tion and Demolition Waste. There is demand
to develop other uses such as mortar and
concrete aggregates.28
The ability to design and build structural
members that last for 500 years or more
instead of 50 will in the long run increase the
concrete industry’s resource productivity by
tenfold. Meanwhile, by substituting recycled
materials for natural materials, as described
in this article, it should be possible to
substantially improve the resource produc-
tivity of the concrete industry immediately.
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