Guidelines for Effective and Sustainable
Recycling of Construction
and Demolition Waste
Serena Giorgi, Monica Lavagna and Andrea Campioli
Abstract Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (WFD) provides that, within 2020, the
preparing for re-use and recycling of non-hazardous construction and demolition
waste shall be increased to a minimum of 70% by weight. Beginning from a
screening of the current percentage of reuse and recycling, type of recycling (types
of waste and destinations) and incentive policies in Member States of European
Union-28, the research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Directive and
possible ways of improvement through a Life Cycle based approach. In this paper
the incentive policies and some critical issues regarding current regulations are
analysed. Further ways to improve legislation are proposed as well as guidelines,
which would have an effect on a local level and are aimed at making the recycling
of CDW management more effective and sustainable through Life Cycle
Management.
1 Introduction
Construction and demolition waste is receiving more attention recently following
new circular economy policies [1, 2]. Action plans primarily move towards
reduction of waste by recycling, promoting the by-products exchange among
companies and supporting digital technology platforms in order to stimulate business opportunities. In this situation, the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC)
[3] regains a vital role. It establishes the waste hierarchy, defines the meaning of
by-product and the consequent cessation of waste classification. Furthermore, the
WFD sets the target for reuse and recycling of non-hazardous construction and
demolition waste by 70% in terms of weight, within 2020. In order to define the
main critical aspect of the Directive, it is important to highlight that the Article 11
set out, does not include stone and soil. Moreover the percentage of recycling
includes backfilling operations, which use waste to substitute other material.
S. Giorgi (&) Á M. Lavagna Á A. Campioli
ABC Department, Politecnico Di Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: serena.giorgi@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2018
E. Benetto et al. (eds.), Designing Sustainable Technologies,
Products and Policies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66981-6_24
211
Recycling of Construction
and Demolition Waste
Serena Giorgi, Monica Lavagna and Andrea Campioli
Abstract Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (WFD) provides that, within 2020, the
preparing for re-use and recycling of non-hazardous construction and demolition
waste shall be increased to a minimum of 70% by weight. Beginning from a
screening of the current percentage of reuse and recycling, type of recycling (types
of waste and destinations) and incentive policies in Member States of European
Union-28, the research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Directive and
possible ways of improvement through a Life Cycle based approach. In this paper
the incentive policies and some critical issues regarding current regulations are
analysed. Further ways to improve legislation are proposed as well as guidelines,
which would have an effect on a local level and are aimed at making the recycling
of CDW management more effective and sustainable through Life Cycle
Management.
1 Introduction
Construction and demolition waste is receiving more attention recently following
new circular economy policies [1, 2]. Action plans primarily move towards
reduction of waste by recycling, promoting the by-products exchange among
companies and supporting digital technology platforms in order to stimulate business opportunities. In this situation, the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC)
[3] regains a vital role. It establishes the waste hierarchy, defines the meaning of
by-product and the consequent cessation of waste classification. Furthermore, the
WFD sets the target for reuse and recycling of non-hazardous construction and
demolition waste by 70% in terms of weight, within 2020. In order to define the
main critical aspect of the Directive, it is important to highlight that the Article 11
set out, does not include stone and soil. Moreover the percentage of recycling
includes backfilling operations, which use waste to substitute other material.
S. Giorgi (&) Á M. Lavagna Á A. Campioli
ABC Department, Politecnico Di Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: serena.giorgi@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2018
E. Benetto et al. (eds.), Designing Sustainable Technologies,
Products and Policies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66981-6_24
211