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Title Matching Demolition and Construction Material Flows, an Urban Mining Case Study
ID_Doc 23258
Authors Verhagen, TJ; Sauer, ML; van der Voet, E; Sprecher, B
Title Matching Demolition and Construction Material Flows, an Urban Mining Case Study
Year 2021
Published Sustainability, 13, 2
DOI 10.3390/su13020653
Abstract The recycling of demolition waste is essential to lower the construction sectors primary material demand, responsible for 50% of the global primary material consumption. Almost all demolition waste is used as filler material for the construction of roads, preventing further reuse or recycling after this application. The built environment generates considerable annual material in-and outflows. However, there has been little discussion on the availability and further application of this potential supply of secondary materials as a replacement for primary materials. In this study, we quantify the percentage of demolition waste that can be repurposed as secondary materials in the Dutch construction sector. We analyzed the yearly building material flows for the municipality of Leiden using municipal data on demolition and construction to explore the viability of the Dutch government's policy goal to reduce primary materials consumption by 50% before 2030. From this analysis, we find that the recycling of demolition waste has a sizable potential but just falls short of the stated policy goal. Even in a situation with more construction than demolition, there will remain a considerable mismatch in the yearly construction material demand and available supply of demolition waste for our municipal-wide case study. More importantly, the current processing of demolition waste in the Netherlands will require significant improvements to achieve this goal. New governmental policies are required to focus on maintaining material quality and allowing further use of recycled materials as buildings materials.
Author Keywords urban mining; circular economy policy; GIS
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED); Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000611744300001
WoS Category Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies
Research Area Science & Technology - Other Topics; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
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