Circular Economy and Recycling of Pre-consumer …
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• a taxonomy of by-products and scraps, which are codified and classified on the
basis of the economic activities they come from (according to the CER catalogue);
• a set of information related to the characteristics of the codified by-products and
scraps and to the parameters useful for the environmental and economic assessment
of scenarios for reuse/recycling;
• a supply/demand relationship matrix, able to correlate the taxonomy of by-products
and scraps and the different classes of technical elements of the building system,
in order to identify the possible construction products (materials, semi-finished
products, components, systems) that can be manufactured by using entirely or
partially by-product and/or pre-consumer scraps;
• the definition of a geo-referencing GIS tool, useful for mapping amounts of byproducts and pre-consumer scraps, available in defined geographical areas. The
GIS tools can be useful also for supporting the creation of local hubs, necessary
for the collection, separation, storage, management and distribution of by-products
and pre-consumers scraps, to be processed for becoming secondary raw materials
or directly be used in the construction sector.
6 Conclusions
Circular economy orients to operate in a virtuous way, trying to progressively minimise waste non-recyclable because considered useless, superfluous or not convenient
for new uses (Webster 2017). The aim is to pursue the “end-of-waste” status, trying to
identify areas of convenience (not only economic but also environmental and social),
through actions such as:
• searching for, recognising, defining, inventing a use, and a specific purpose for
waste. In this sense, it is important to activate some strategies. Firstly, we must
promote project activities capable, on the basis of availability of information on
the characteristics of recyclable waste and semi-finished products, of pursuing
innovations both by developing new products and by defining new characterisations of existing products. Secondly, we must sustain the practices of inter-sectoral
“dialogue” in order to widen the view both on the characteristics, the quantity and
origin of different types of waste and on the possible fields of use and of the
possible markets;
• recognising supply and demand in relation to possible uses and thus, designing
market scenarios. Recognising the demand means on one hand having previously
defined the possible purposes of reusable portions of waste. On the other hand it
means having evaluated and possibly quantified the potentially interested subjects,
in terms of both consumers and manufacturers, taking into consideration these purposes. Recognising the supply means mapping, tracking and characterising waste.
Designing market scenarios involves identifying the conditions for meeting supply
and demand implementing information support to make the manufacturing feasible
using cost/profit analysis, supported by economic and environmental indicators;
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• a taxonomy of by-products and scraps, which are codified and classified on the
basis of the economic activities they come from (according to the CER catalogue);
• a set of information related to the characteristics of the codified by-products and
scraps and to the parameters useful for the environmental and economic assessment
of scenarios for reuse/recycling;
• a supply/demand relationship matrix, able to correlate the taxonomy of by-products
and scraps and the different classes of technical elements of the building system,
in order to identify the possible construction products (materials, semi-finished
products, components, systems) that can be manufactured by using entirely or
partially by-product and/or pre-consumer scraps;
• the definition of a geo-referencing GIS tool, useful for mapping amounts of byproducts and pre-consumer scraps, available in defined geographical areas. The
GIS tools can be useful also for supporting the creation of local hubs, necessary
for the collection, separation, storage, management and distribution of by-products
and pre-consumers scraps, to be processed for becoming secondary raw materials
or directly be used in the construction sector.
6 Conclusions
Circular economy orients to operate in a virtuous way, trying to progressively minimise waste non-recyclable because considered useless, superfluous or not convenient
for new uses (Webster 2017). The aim is to pursue the “end-of-waste” status, trying to
identify areas of convenience (not only economic but also environmental and social),
through actions such as:
• searching for, recognising, defining, inventing a use, and a specific purpose for
waste. In this sense, it is important to activate some strategies. Firstly, we must
promote project activities capable, on the basis of availability of information on
the characteristics of recyclable waste and semi-finished products, of pursuing
innovations both by developing new products and by defining new characterisations of existing products. Secondly, we must sustain the practices of inter-sectoral
“dialogue” in order to widen the view both on the characteristics, the quantity and
origin of different types of waste and on the possible fields of use and of the
possible markets;
• recognising supply and demand in relation to possible uses and thus, designing
market scenarios. Recognising the demand means on one hand having previously
defined the possible purposes of reusable portions of waste. On the other hand it
means having evaluated and possibly quantified the potentially interested subjects,
in terms of both consumers and manufacturers, taking into consideration these purposes. Recognising the supply means mapping, tracking and characterising waste.
Designing market scenarios involves identifying the conditions for meeting supply
and demand implementing information support to make the manufacturing feasible
using cost/profit analysis, supported by economic and environmental indicators;