Share:


Current state, comprehensive analysis and proposals on the practice of construction and demolition waste reuse and recycling in Portugal

    António Joaquim Coelho Marinho Affiliation
    ; João Couto Affiliation
    ; Aires Camões Affiliation

Abstract

The traditional method of construction and demolition waste (CDW) consumes a substantial amount of land resources causing severe environmental and social problems. In Portugal, the low recycling rate, combined with a high use of landfill as a way of managing CDW, has resulted in a negative index of 39% in the waste hierarchy, thus making it impossible for Portugal to be classified as a country that implements waste hierarchy in practice. The main goal of this study is to investigate the benefits of CDW reuse and recycling and the factors that promote or hinder this practice in Portugal. Therefore, a comprehensive approach has been adopted by combining the analysis of secondary data collected through extensive bibliography research with the results of a survey by questionnaire conducted on a group of experts in CDW management. It was concluded that the main method of CDW management consists of its disposal in licensed landfills (47%), and the rate of CDW reuse on site is still low (6%). The results show a high consistency between the respondents’ answers, as well as consistency between the opinions of these participants from different areas of professional activity. The respondents do recognize a concern regarding the reduction of carbon emissions, as well as a cultural resistance to materials or buildings that use CDW. These problems are further compounded by the difficulty in installing or supporting recycling equipment for CDW reuse on site. Respondents agree that there should be more investment and support from the government in this area, as well as in the training of construction companies.

Keyword : demolition waste, recycling rate, construction, waste hierarchy, low recycling rate, demolition waste reuse, licensed landfills

How to Cite
Marinho, A. J. C., Couto, J., & Camões, A. (2022). Current state, comprehensive analysis and proposals on the practice of construction and demolition waste reuse and recycling in Portugal. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 28(3), 232–246. https://doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2022.16447
Published in Issue
Mar 3, 2022
Abstract Views
1127
PDF Downloads
692
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Abdul-Rahman, H., Berawi, M., Berawi, A., Mohamed, O., Othman, M., & Yahya, I. (2006). Delay mitigation in the Malaysian construction in-dustry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 132, 125–133. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2006)132:2(125)

Ajayi, S. O., & Oyedele, L. O. (2018). Waste-efficient materials procurement for construction projects: A structural equation modelling of critical success factors. Waste Management, 75, 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.01.025

Akanbi, L. A., Oyedele, L. O., Akinade, O. O., Ajayi, A. O., Delgado, D. M., Bilal, M., & Bello, S. A. (2018). Salvaging building materials in a circular economy: A BIM-based whole-life performance estimator. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 129, 175–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.10.026

Algarvio, D. (2009). Construction and demolition waste recycling: contribution for process control. New University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Almeida, J., Rosa, F. D., Pandolfo, A., Berticelli, R., Brum, E. M., & Martins, M. S. (2018). Estudo de viabilidade econômica do uso do agregado de RCD em pavimentação de vias urbanas. Revista de Engenharia Civil, 54, 16–25.

Atmaca, A. (2016). Life cycle assessment and cost analysis of residential buildings in south east of Turkey: Part 1 – review and methodology. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 21, 831–846. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1050-8

Bossink, B. A. G., & Brouwers, H. J. H. (1996). Construction waste: Quantification and source evaluation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 122, 55–60. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(1996)122:1(55)

Brasileiro, L. L., & Matos, J. M. E. (2015). Revisão bibliográfica: reutilização de resíduos da construção e demolição na indústria da construção civil. Cerâmica, 61, 178–189. https://doi.org/10.1590/0366-69132015613581860

Brent, A., & Labuschagne, C. (2006). Social indicators for sustainable project and technology life cycle management in the process industry (13 pp + 4). The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 11, 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1065/lca2006.01.233

Coelho, A., & de Brito, J. (2013). Economic viability analysis of a construction and demolition waste recycling plant in Portugal – part I: Location, materials, technology and economic analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 39, 338–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.08.024

de Klijn-Chevalerias, M., & Javed, S. (2017). The Dutch approach for assessing and reducing environmental impacts of building materials. Building and Environment, 111, 147–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.11.003

Decree-Law Nr.46/2008, 12 March 2008 (2008). The system of construction and demolition waste management – ministry of environment, spatial planning and regional development. Republic Journal, I Series-A – Nr. 51. Lisbon, Portugal.

Decree-Law Nr.73/2011, 17 June 2011 (2011). Establishes the waste management operations regime and aims to clarify waste definitions, preven-tion, reuse, preparation for reuse, treatment and recycling. Republic Journal, I Series-A – Nr. 116. Lisbon, Portugal.

DeVellis, R. (2016). Scale development: Theory and applications (4 ed.). Sage Publications.

Dhakal, S., Zhang, L., & Lv, X. (2020). Ontology-based semantic modelling to support knowledge-based document classification on disas-ter-resilient construction practices. International Journal of Construction Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2020.1765097

Doan, D. T., & Chinda, T. (2016). Modeling construction and demolition waste recycling program in Bangkok: Benefit and cost analysis. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142, 05016015. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001188

Domingo, N., & Luo, H. (2017). Canterbury earthquake construction and demolition waste management: issues and improvement suggestions. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 22, 130–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.03.003

Duan, H., & Li, J. (2016). Construction and demolition waste management: China’s lessons. Waste Management and Research, 34, 397–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X16647603

Duan, Z. H., & Poon, C. S. (2014). Properties of recycled aggregate concrete made with recycled aggregates with different amounts of old adhered mortars. Materials and Design, 58, 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2014.01.044

Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K. (2002). Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 11, 130–141. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.323

Edum-Fotwe, F. T., & Price, A. D. F. (2009). A social ontology for appraising sustainability of construction projects and developments. International Journal of Project Management, 27, 313–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.04.003

Esa, M. R., Halog, A., & Rigamonti, L. (2017a). Strategies for minimizing construction and demolition wastes in Malaysia. Resources, Conserva-tion and Recycling, 120, 219–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.12.014

Esa, M. R., Halog, A., & Rigamonti, L. (2017b). Developing strategies for managing construction and demolition wastes in Malaysia based on the concept of circular economy. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 19, 1144–1154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-016-0516-x

Eurostat. (2020). Database. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database

Fortunato, E., Lopes, M. L., Curto, P., & Fonseca, A. (2009). Valorização dos residuos de construção e demolição em obras geotecnicas. La-boratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil.

Foster, G., & Saleh, R. (2021). The circular city and adaptive reuse of cultural heritage index: Measuring the investment opportunity in Europe. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 175, 105880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105880

Guangshe, J., Li, C., Jianguo, C., Shuisen, Z., & Jin, W. (2008). Application of organizational project management maturity model (OPM3) to construction in China: An empirical study. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Management, Innovation Manage-ment and Industrial Engineering (ICIII 2008) (pp. 56–62), Taipei, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIII.2008.182

He, Z., Shen, A., Wu, H., Wang, W., Wang, L., Yao, C., & Wu, J. (2021). Research progress on recycled clay brick waste as an alternative to cement for sustainable construction materials. Construction and Building Materials, 274, 122113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.122113

Hossain, M. U., & Ng, T. S. (2019). Influence of waste materials on buildings’ life cycle environmental impacts: Adopting resource recovery prin-ciple. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 142, 10–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.010

Huang, T., Shi, F., Tanikawa, H., Fei, J., & Han, J. (2013). Materials demand and environmental impact of buildings construction and demolition in China based on dynamic material flow analysis. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 72, 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.12.013

Huemann, M., & Silvius, G. (2017). Projects to create the future: Managing projects meets sustainable development. International Journal of Project Management, 35, 1066–1070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.04.014

Jia, S., Yan, G., Shen, A., & Zheng, J. (2017). Dynamic simulation analysis of a construction and demolition waste management model under pen-alty and subsidy mechanisms. Journal of Cleaner Production, 147, 531–545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.01.143

Jin, R., Chen, Q., & Soboyejo, A. (2015). Survey of the current status of sustainable concrete production in the U.S. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 105, 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.10.011

Jin, R., Li, B., Zhou, T., Wanatowski, D., & Piroozfar, P. (2017). An empirical study of perceptions towards construction and demolition waste recycling and reuse in China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 126, 86–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.07.034

Kabirifar, K., Mojtahedi, M., Wang, C., & Tam, V. W. Y. (2020). Construction and demolition waste management contributing factors coupled with reduce, reuse, and recycle strategies for effective waste management: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 263, 121265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121265

Leite, F. da C., Motta, R. dos S., Vasconcelos, K. L., & Bernucci, L. (2011). Laboratory evaluation of recycled construction and demolition waste for pavements. Construction and Building Materials, 25, 2972–2979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.11.105

Li, J., & Li, D. (2020). Polyelectrolyte adsorption in single small nanochannel by layer-by-layer method. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 561, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2019.11.116

Liu, Q., Li, B., Xiao, J., & Singh, A. (2020). Utilization potential of aerated concrete block powder and clay brick powder from C&D waste. Construction and Building Materials, 238, 117721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117721

Lockrey, S., Nguyen, H., Crossin, E., & Verghese, K. (2016). Recycling the construction and demolition waste in Vietnam: Opportunities and challenges in practice. Journal of Cleaner Production, 133, 757–766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.175

Lu, W. (2019). Big data analytics to identify illegal construction waste dumping: A Hong Kong study. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 141, 264–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.10.039

Marinho, A. (2017). A gestão de riscos projetos de construção [Master thesis]. IPP – Escola Superior de Tecnológia e Gestão, Portugal.

Marrero, M., Puerto, M., Rivero-Camacho, C., Freire-Guerrero, A., & Solís-Guzmán, J. (2017). Assessing the economic impact and ecological footprint of construction and demolition waste during the urbanization of rural land. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 117, 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.10.020

Martens, M. L., & Carvalho, M. M. (2017). Key factors of sustainability in project management context: A survey exploring the project managers’ perspective. International Journal of Project Management, 35, 1084–1102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.04.004

Marzouk, M., & Azab, S. (2014). Environmental and economic impact assessment of construction and demolition waste disposal using system dynamics. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 82, 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.10.015

Mavi, K. R., & Standing, C. (2018). Critical success factors of sustainable project management in construction: A fuzzy DEMATEL-ANP approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 194, 751–765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.120

Mishra, P., Dangayach, G. S., & Mittal, M. L. (2011). An ethical approach towards sustainable project success. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 25, 338–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.552

Newaz, M. T., Davis, P., Sher, W., & Simon, L. (2020). Factors affecting construction waste management streams in Australia. International Journal of Construction Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2020.1815122

Núñez-Cacho, P., Molina-Moreno, V., Corpas-Iglesias, F. A., & Cortés-García, F. J. (2018). Family businesses transitioning to a circular economy model: The case of ‘Mercadona’. Sustainability, 10(2), 538. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020538

Ojiako, U., Chipulu, M., Gardiner, P., Williams, T., Mota, C., Maguire, S., Shou, Y., & Stamati, T. (2014). Effect of project role, age and gender differences on the formation and revision of project decision judgements. International Journal of Project Management, 32, 556–567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.09.001

Pal, S. K., Takano, A., Alanne, K., Palonen, M., & Siren, K. (2017). A multi-objective life cycle approach for optimal building design: A case study in Finnish context. Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 1021–1035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.018

Passos, J., Alves, O., & Brito, P. (2020). Management of municipal and construction and demolition wastes in Portugal: future perspectives through gasification for energetic valorisation. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 17, 2907–2926. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02656-6

Pires, A., & Martinho, G. (2019). Waste hierarchy index for circular economy in waste management. Waste Management, 95, 298–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.06.014

Poon, C. S., Yu, A. T. W., Wong, S. W., & Cheung, E. (2004). Management of construction waste in public housing projects in Hong Kong. Con-struction Management and Economics, 22, 675–689. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144619042000213292

Qin, Y., Zhang, X., & Chai, J. (2019). Damage performance and compressive behavior of early-age green concrete with recycled nylon fiber fabric under an axial load. Construction and Building Materials, 209, 105–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.03.094

Qin, Y., Li, M., Li, Y., Ma, W., Xu, Z., Chai, J., & Zhou, H. (2021). Effects of nylon fiber and nylon fiber fabric on the permeability of cracked concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 274, 121786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121786

Saez, P. V., Del Río Merino, M., San-Antonio González, A., & Porras-Amores, C. (2013). Best practice measures assessment for construction and demolition waste management in building constructions. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 75, 52–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.03.009

Sezer, A. A., & Bosch-Sijtsema, P. (2020). Actor-to-actor tensions influencing waste management in building refurbishment projects: A service ecosystem perspective. International Journal of Construction Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2020.1741493

Stephan, A., & Athanassiadis, A. (2018). Towards a more circular construction sector: Estimating and spatialising current and future non-structural material replacement flows to maintain urban building stocks. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 129, 248–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.022

Tingley, D. D., Giesekam, J., & Cooper-Searle, S. (2018). Applying circular economic principles to reduce embodied carbon. In F. Pomponi, C. De Wolf, & A. Moncaster (Eds.), Embodied carbon in buildings (pp. 265–285). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72796-7_12

Tonglet, M., Phillips, P. S., & Read, A. D. (2004). Using the theory of planned behaviour to investigate the determinants of recycling behaviour: A case study from Brixworth, UK. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 41, 191–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2003.11.001

Van Ewijk, S., & Stegemann, J. A. (2016). Limitations of the waste hierarchy for achieving absolute reductions in material throughput. Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, 122–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.11.051

Vieira, C. S., & Pereira, P. M. (2015). Use of recycled construction and demolition materials in geotechnical applications: A review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 103, 192–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.07.023

Vitale, P., Arena, N., Di Gregorio, F., & Arena, U. (2017). Life cycle assessment of the end-of-life phase of a residential building. Waste Man-agement, 60, 311–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.10.002

Wang, N., Wei, K., & Sun, H. (2014). Whole life project management approach to sustainability. Journal of Management in Engineering, 30, 246–255. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000185

Wang, N., Yao, S., Wu, G., & Chen, X. (2017). The role of project management in organisational sustainable growth of technology-based firms. Technology in Society, 51, 124–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2017.08.004

Wei, Y., Chai, J., Qin, Y., Xu, Z., & Zhang, X. (2019). Performance evaluation of green-concrete pavement material containing selected C&D waste and FA in cold regions. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 21, 1550–1562. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00908-3

Wong, C. L., Mo, K. H., Yap, S. P., Alengaram, U. J., & Ling, T.-C. (2018). Potential use of brick waste as alternate concrete-making materials: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 195, 226–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.193

Xia, B., Ding, T., & Xiao, J. (2020). Life cycle assessment of concrete structures with reuse and recycling strategies: A novel framework and case study. Waste Management, 105, 268–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.02.015

Xiao, J., Ma, Z., & Ding, T. (2016). Reclamation chain of waste concrete: A case study of Shanghai. Waste Management, 48, 334–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.018

Zhang, C., Hu, M., Dong, L., Gebremariam, A., Mirand-Xicotencatl, B., Di Maio, F., & Tukker, A. (2019). Eco-efficiency assessment of technological innovations in high-grade concrete recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 149, 649–663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.06.023

Zhao, W., Leeftink, R. B., & Rotter, V. S. (2010). Evaluation of the economic feasibility for the recycling of construction and demolition waste in China – The case of Chongqing. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54, 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2009.09.003

Zhong, Y., & Wu, P. (2015). Economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and constructability indicators related to concrete- and steel-projects. Journal of Cleaner Production, 108, 748–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.095