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European Council of Civil Engineers |
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Regarding a Construction Waste Proposal to be made by the European Commission's Environmental Directorate - end 1998 |
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The European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) welcomes and acknowledges the Commission's contribution in seeking to encourage reduction of production waste. The construction industry is a major generator of waste and in some instances can account for up to 50% of typical landfill. ECCE recognises the need to minimise construction waste in order to conserve landfill capacity, to reduce the environmental impact of new construction projects and to minimise the demand for primary aggregates. ECCE is aware of the benefits which pertain to minimisation of construction waste. In the financial area these include reduced waste transport costs; reduced costs for the disposal of waste materials; saving on using new materials and increased returns from selling waste materials for reuse. The value which may be obtained in recycling of low cost materials such as soil and secondary aggregates is the saving of the cost of disposal. The implementation of the Landfill Directive throughout Europe will place pressure on the construction industry to minimise and reuse construction waste as an integral part of the construction process in order to avoid increasing waste disposal costs. ECCE recognises the importance of the hierarchy for waste disposal which focuses firstly on reduction then re-use and re-covering by recycling, composting, energy recovery and as the final option, disposal. The commitment to reduce waste can be dealt with by preventing waste by proper maintenance; designing with whole-life costs in mind to minimise waste; specifying and using reclaimed or inert materials in construction; using techniques which avoid creating waste; reusing materials on site for other purposes or finding profitable uses off-site and disposal of inert waste on site. With regard to the review being carried out by European Commission services on construction waste the following is noted: 1. Discrimination Against Recycled Waste And The Importance Of Appropriate Standards.Despite the efforts to phase out landfill and the consequent effects on waste
minimisation, there is strong reluctance by professional engineers to reuse recycled materials except in a lower specification role. In relation to road construction, recycled materials may be used for a sub-base, but are not generally used as an aggregate in the base construction of roads. In order to make a change in that regard, new specifications are needed. The example may be given of the United Kingdom Highways Agency which provides specifications. The contractor is obliged to provide material in accordance with the specifications, and some options will not be tested. For example, hydraulically pressed concrete curbs have to be able to resist a particular bending load. A test is seldom carried out on such a product because the concrete produced is already checked. There is a greater need, for instance, to test asphalt which is mixed in a plant which may be involved in making four mixes in one morning. Asphalt testing is, therefore, generally carried out as the proportions of the aggregate (sand, filler soil, lime dust etc.) and bitumen cannot be compounded if the proportions are wrong. Failures do occur and engineers have to judge if failure is important to stability of mix, therefore clear differentiation has to be made between those products to which such rules can be applied and those which differ. For instance, concrete could be certified if the industry had confidence in an accepted global standard of concrete manufacturing. There is a need for research to be undertaken to provide scientific assurances on the acceptability of standards for recycled materials. There are also additional problems with the re-use of materials such as timber, which may have nails in or be split, and so it is usual that it is burnt and a new piece of timber obtained which has been through a pressure treatment and offers an assurance of quality. The question of recycling of concrete again leads to problems in relation to standards. Currently a project being funded within the European Union Brite-Euram programme involves the reuse of processed demolition rubble for the production of cement as well as for manufacturing concrete, both of a high quality. This project exclusively uses material from processing plants. Additionally, it would be difficult to impose an EU standard for cement, as some cement is used around the world, and it would therefore be difficult to impose global standards. The development of appropriate standards for recycling of waste is crucial to reach the heart of the matter. Such standards would also have to differentiate between geographic conditions and types of roads (according to degree of usage e.g. one standard for hot drilled asphalt for major roads, another standard for hot drilled asphalt for minor roads), but differentiation would also have to exist between the climactic conditions prevailing near the Arctic Circle, in moderate temperate climates and in the Mediterranean. Discrimination Against Construction WasteSome basic factsCase Study: FranceA landfills class One special industrial waste charge = 300 ECUs per tonne plus various urban (household) waste charge =60 ECUs per tonne + 3 inert waste charge of 12 ECUs per tonne. However from 1st July 2002 the French government has set itself an ambition target of landfill only for ultimate waste. The use of aggregates in civil engineering: in France this is 380 million tonnes per year, of which 90 are for building, 290 for road construction etc, there are limitations on availability of alluvial aggregates and quarry industry. A lack of aggregates can be demonstrated in the Paris area where 6 million tonnes are used per year, 3 million tonnes from construction waste. Sea cost of transport is very high leading to reuse and recycling in local areas. Figures from France show:
As a comparison with other industrial sources of waste:
2. PermitsThe members of ECCE discussed the question of "permits to demolish" being produced which would speak about the need for recycling. ECCE members did not want permits which established a link between demolition and reuse of construction waste, as they felt that such a measure would encourage developments on greenfield sites rather than reuse of contaminated ("brown") land. There are also possible difficulties in such a policy in proving that all materials had in fact been reused. The Netherlands has applied a system of demolition permits. The issue of demolition permits has been identified as an issue both by the UK and France. In France it is being considered whether demolition permits should be submitted within a waste management plan. Should there be certified bodies to deliver agreements? Would this involve heavy administrative procedures? Would this involve delays in operations? Currently, the official position of the French authorities is not to establish links between demolition and management of construction waste though there may be exceptions for large construction sites. It is intended to encourage "de-construction". The UK has asked the question: can the UK government collect the data it needs to monitor the use of reclaimed and recycled materials, would measures which have been used successfully in other European countries be appropriate in the UK? The Dutch experience from 15 years of recycling and reuse indicate that all efforts have to be taken in a "joint and long lasting operation" of all parties involved. Recommended initial measures for government institutions to stimulate Recycling and reuse are by:
The Netherlands experience shows that initiatives are then overtaken by other parties, for example producers of waste in various industries, contractors, suppliers etc. The Netherlands have stressed that the continuous monitoring of effects and feedback is essential in the process of stimulating each other. 3. Definition of Construction WasteECCE considers that waste becomes more a product because of the cost and location of aggregates and other new materials and also because of the cost of disposal. These two factors drive the definition of waste. If you have easy availability of landfill and large quantities of aggregate close at hand you will not get a premium on the use of recycled materials. 4. Position Relating To Those Countries Which Select Landfill As An OptionECCE members did not consider that the EU would succeed in getting immediate acceptance to tax landfill at an appropriate level to ensure a radical change throughout Europe in dealing with construction waste. This is based on figures published in Europe which indicate that there are some 1,500 to 3,000 illegal landfills in Greece and that some 54% of waste in Portugal went to landfill. Portugal completed its strategic plan on urban solid wastes as recently as July 1997. This defined seven fundamental strategic elements to give sustainability to the overall sector: management and management agents; service costs and tariffs; prevention, reduction and reuse; materials recycling; composting and other biological treatments; incineration with energy recovery and confinement. The scope of the Plan includes 15 different types of waste including those from the construction and demolition sectors. Currently there are no reliable data in Portugal on the National production of these wastes, and there is no specific legislation either at national or EU level. It was felt by ECCE members that although the Commission is currently undertaking a study and has defined a strategy in terms of actions to be implemented there are still no quantitative objectives. Denmark provides a positive picture. Recycling of construction waste in Denmark increased from around 10% in 1985 to around 80% 1993. Danish estimates indicated that it produced around 2.4 million tonnes of construction waste in 1993, of which demolition waste accounted for the largest proportion (70-80%). Despite concerns that around 100,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes of construction waste were not covered by the survey , the largest part of this waste was recycled mainly on site. By contrast, in Portugal although are there already a few firms for the recycling of demolition waste, they are not yet properly licensed. There is a clear difference in those countries which regard landfill as a practice they have never used for geological reasons or have left behind (Denmark, Sweden, Germany, The Flemish region of Belgium and France) and those countries that use landfill to a large degree but are deemed to have insufficient resources to invest in alternative technology within a short period of time - namely Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. The U.K., whilst using landfill to a large degree, has recently studied the amount of recycling in the construction industry and has estimated more recycling is being carried out than calculated. Demand for primary aggregate has dropped by around 10%. A considerable quantity of this recycling is also carried out at low cost. 5. Different Aims In Recycling - The ScaleIs the problem a micro-economic one purely applying to the local scene? What is the role of the local authority? Are there different aims in recycling? The most appropriate method is to use less of the initial resource (e.g. timber and aggregate from virgin forest and quarry). It would appear the problem is a micro-economic one. A developer in construction aims to provide quality at the lowest cost. His decision on whether to use recycled material is based on his judgement on the quality he seeks and whether it is cheaper to him or not. If the disposal cost is high he will think about re-use. However this also carries with it the risk of illegal dumping or fly-tipping. Whatever rules are developed will have to be administered at local authority level. 6. Dangerous Waste. Its Effects On The Global Handling Of The Waste StreamA seminar on managing construction and demolition waste organised by the UK Construction Industry Research and Information Association in April 1998 provided an exposé of hazardous waste Management on demolition projects1. Typical problems listed were the case of a West Midlands businessman charged with fly tipping at a number of sites in the Birmingham area; an aggregates company fined £8,000 under the Health and Safety at Work Act for failure to use best practicable means to prevent the release of offensive and noxious fumes, a company fined £10,000 for plluting a watercourse wiht sewerage under the Water Resources Act; a demolition contractor ordered to serve 200 hours of community services for polluting a stream with a highly toxic pesticide mixture. Failure can be seen to be a result of the following: identification; planning; money; time allocation; lack of knowledge/ignorance; poor management or `cowboy' operators. In the United Kingdom, regulations place on obligation on the client to ensure that information is available by stating that "The information required to be provided which the client has or could ascertain by making enquiries which it is reasonable for a person in his position to make"(Regulation 11). Information can be obtained by (i) carrying out a desk study of previous history (ii) site inspection and (iii) detailed sampling and analysis. With regard to chemical analysis the following recommendation is made. Namely that an initial investigation should provide a basis for sample strategy; that this should be targeted to specific substance(s) and that analysis must be carried out be accredited laboratories. In structures typical wastes are lagging, pipes, roofs, fuels tanks, transformers and process vessels. In contaminated land typical waste may be organic and non-organic or radioactive. A suggested approach to successful waste management of demolition projects can be considered as:
It is important that hazardous waste management is underpinned by effective regulations and control. 7. The Responsibility Of The Producer Who Pays, And Who Influences The Management Of A Particular Waste Stream(Study material provided by CIRIA, the U.K. Construction Industry Research and Information Association)ECCE warmly recommends that there be an increase in recycling of materials on site. The importance of combined push-pull strategy using encouragement guidelines and taxation of landfill would develop possibilities. Certain factors must be borne in mind. Construction techniques change greatly over a 50-60 year period which would be a reasonable expected lifetime of a building being erected today. There is a need for mobilisation of R &D projects; specifications are required for a new construction. There is also a need to reconsider recycling with greater seriousness. There is a need to satisfy the industry whose concerns relate to professional liability and the quality of the product as well as construction design which must satisfy loads placed upon it. It would seem that a short term strategy could include building a set of specifications and influencing attitudes amongst employers and engineers that recycled materials are as good as virgin materials. ECCE members have noted that the recycling of asphalt in Germany is more widespread than in the UK and it is felt an exchange of best practise via a bench-marking exercise would doubtless encourage dissemination of best practice in Europe. A code of good practice could be developed at national level and could be organised both by institutions and local authorities. The role of the local authority would be key in the implementation of such a strategy and ECCE would recommend that professional Institutions set up Task Forces to develop specific guidelines and codes of good practice for the industry. A comparison could be made with the CDM European Regulations which have been implemented in different ways in Europe but with the same aim of achieving greater safety on site. As an example of application of CDM regulations, it may be noted that the UK Institution of Civil Engineers expects the professional engineer to be capable of site supervision following appropriate training, whilst the professionals in France have developed a separate professional role in site supervision. The cost to industry of such a proposal must be taken into account with regards to an industry which is extremely subject to the economic cycle and in parts of Europe is a sector with high unemployment rates. Likely content of communication/reccommendation1. The Problem of ClassificationCase Study: United Kingdom.Construction accounts for approximately 92% of aggregate consumption and 1/3 of all aggregate production within the UK including road construction (including maintenance). Approx. 50% of all crushed rock is used within road construction. In order to reduce the negative environmental effects caused by primary aggregate extraction, the government has set a broad objective to reduce the supply of aggregates from primary land sources in England from 83% to 74% by 2001 and to 68% by 2006 (Minerals Planning Guidance 6, 1994). To help achieve this it has also set the following targets for the use of secondary aggregates in England:
2. Planning the Stream - should this be a national or local plan?The emphasis would be on a national plan with local implementation. Experiences from the Netherlands shows that the Dutch government undertakes many initiatives to stimulate the use and recycling of waste streams, usually in close co-operation with industry, associations and umbrella organisations. In the Netherlands, the Ministry for Housing, Special Planning and the Environment published a handbook to assist national, regional and local government authorities. This provided a number of practical measures and instruments regarding the use of secondary raw materials. The handbook covered issues such as:
Many voluntary agreements were concluded between government institutions and industry as well as between mutual industry partners. This relied on an efficient administrative structure. For example in 1995 the Dutch government and approximately 20 industry organisations agreed on measures to prevent construction and demolition waste and to stimulate their use. In 1996 demolition waste contractors and umbrella organisations for aluminium building products and a glass recycling company agreed on the separation and collection of these specific materials on demolition and renovation sites. In order to promote separate collection and reuse of construction and demolition waste the Dutch association of waste contractors, BABEX, has set up a system of certification for its members. A similar system was set up by the equivalent body of Crusher and Sorters association (BRBS). Financially the government supported extensive research and development programs that were carried out by organisations such as Novem, CUR, CROW etc. One such programme, the "National Investigation into the Reuse and Recycling of Materials" NOH programme Novem, lasted for over 5 years. A tax was introduced on the extraction of Dutch primary (virgin) raw materials and a levy system to landfills was applied. The ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management offers building contractors an opportunity to earn bonuses if they use concrete and /or masonry aggregates as a coarse material in concrete instead of natural gravel in public works under its supervision2. Economic Advantages as exemplified by UK LegislationAvoiding sending material to landfill saves disposal costs and purchase costs of further new material. Construction waste disposal costs will reflect increases in landfill charges. These are rising due to:
RecommendationsWhilst it is clear that administration would be at local authority level, it would appear advisable for plans to be developed on a national basis as clearly some areas have higher availability of natural aggregates than others and this could lead to a price distortion within national markets. 3. Encouraging Prevention of Construction WasteIn general the environmental advantages of using reclaimed or recycled materials are greatest if the material or product is used in the highest grade application possible. For example one should process demolition rubble and use it as aggregate for a new concrete rather than just using it for fill. To reduce waste on construction sites certain general recommendations may be made, e.g.
Emphasis should be placed on the true cost of waste which amounts to the purchase cost of the materials, delivered plus the cost or storage, transport and disposal plus the loss of not selling waste for salvage. Danish Case StudySince the mid 1980s Denmark has made considerable efforts to extract and utilise potential resources in construction of demolition waste. Between 1986 and 1995 the Danish government funded more than 100 different projects dealing recycling of construction and demolition waste at a total cost of £6 million. The government strategy also covered other initiatives including action plans, waste disposal tax, information campaigns etc. Danish experience is therefore in advance of many other European countries and highlights reason for discrimination against construction waste. A pilot project on recycling of crushed concrete for base coarse layer in reconstruction of the main runway at Copenhagen airport ( 1983), involved crushing and recycling of approximately 75,000 tonnes of asphalt and 150,000 tonnes of concrete. There was economic motivation to recycle as the transport of such huge amounts of debris and transport of replacement materials would involve moving some 0.5 million tonnes of which a considerable amount would have taken by truck through Copenhagen. The tight time schedule (5 months) led to establishment of a crushing plant at the airport area. The Danish example shows that executing a re-use project on a busy airport would not seriously effect flight operations if an off-season period was chosen. (This might prove more problematic at major inter-modal airports such as London Heathrow; Paris Charles De Gaulle; Frankfurt, Germany etc). Investigations showed that attention had to be paid to the use of recycled concrete to shrinkage due to drying, which is typically 50-100% higher than concrete made by natural materials. The density of the recycled materials was lower because of the lower density of the aggregates. Due to the high water absorption of the recycled materials compared to natural materials, special care had to be taken during mixing of the concrete. They discovered that recycled particles smaller than 4 millimetres should not be used in new concrete. RecommendationsThey recommended that special tests methods for concrete pavement must be developed and used for the qualification of recycled aggregates. Investigation showed it is possible to recycle materials from existing concrete layers producing high quality concrete for new pavement layers providing the existing concrete is made of normal concrete quality. Typically this means concrete layers broken down by fatigue and overload after many years in use. In case of alkaline-silicone reactions and/or poor concrete quality, they did not recommend re-use of crushed materials into new concrete. Source: Seminar material U.K. Aggregates Advisory Service 1998 RecommendationsExperiments which have been carried out in Denmark, the UK and elsewhere all indicate potential problems with the water mix of recycled concrete and the need for integration of matters with advice from an authority such as an environmental agency which would in principle have knowledge of water tables in any area. Danish Case Study 2R&D project on the use of crushed masonry materials for road construction. This project was carried out in 1988-9. It established a basis for assessment of suitability of recycled demolition waste materials for granular sub-base in road constructions. The project comprised investigation of the use of crushed masonry materials for unbound layers as well as bounded layers. Conclusions on the basis of laboratory tests were that it is not possible to decide if crushed demolition waste- mainly masonry - is suitable for construction of unbound granular sub-base. However results indicate that materials were suitable for smaller roads and parking lots with minor traffic. Laboratory tests showed no significant difference between bound materials made by natural gravel and the recycled crushed masonry materials. Strength and constancy were satisfactory. It was concluded that further &ldots;&ldots; was required on the qualification of recycled masonry materials for unbounded layers and on the relatively large shrinkage of cement bound materials. Simple measures, which do not involve excessive cost, may also encourage the use of recycled materials, as set out below: Inciting use of recycled material - U.K. Case StudyThe U.K. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), in conjunction with the U.K. Building Research Establishment (BRE), in 198 established a "C & D Materials Information Exchange". This is an internet-based system to act as a virtual marketplace for those wishing to buy, sell or give away surplus construction and demolition materials. The system comprises four applications:
The system is regarded as being self-maintaining and is offered free to all users with an internet connection. The internet address is: http://www.bre.co.uk/waste. ECCE considers that encouragement is largely a matter of initial government initiatives which can then be developed to other partners. This point was illustrated in The Netherlands experience under Point 2 ("Planning the stream") above. The UK may be considered here as a case study. Government policy on construction is dealt with within the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions. In 1994 a document was published on aggregate supply titled "Minerals, Planning and Guidance Note 6". Since then, a number of papers have been delivered and the Department has considered research and other activities to inform the next review. The UK considers that the Government's role in aggregate is three fold:
Basic primary legislation deals with minerals planning issues and the objective now is to bring all levels up to restoration standards. Recent developments in environmental impact assessment (EIA) will focus a UK review more sharply on environmental issues. There is also an obligation under the EIA Directive (85/337/EEC) to apply the Directive's requirements to marine dredging. Government is also responsible for planning policy guidance. Some main issues are sustainable development (conservation of aggregate resources). The UK has looked at "super quarries" which are coastal based. Marine sources and recycling. The latter is increasing but due to a lack of proper statistical base and monitoring system it is unknown whether targets have been achieved. Support here has been offered by the Aggregates Advisory Service. The UK government also considers there is a regional dimension but has concerned as to whether regional forecasts of demand would take account of exports to other regions. Demand forecasts have a role to play and consideration has been given to an aggregate tax. Co-ordination is also required with National Transport Policy (implications of cuts in the roads program for example). Housing policy also has an influence. The Landfill Tax clearly has a role to play and in March 1998 the UK Chancellor retained the lower tax band of £2 per tonne for inactive (inert) wastes whilst increasing the inactive waste rate from £7-10 per tonne. The UK Department for Trade and Industry provides grants to companies in Assisted Areas to finance the purchase of crushing plants amongst many other things. The UK strategy for sustainable waste management ("Making Waste Work") published in 1995 remains current and includes specific reference to construction and demolition waste. A new National Strategy Waste Management is in the course of preparation and is expected to be published in 1999. 4. Construction to aid demolition (from publication of the tender offer onwards)In the United Kingdom, the DETR (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) contributes money to construction and demolition research projects managed by other bodies e.g. Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA). 5. Mobilising research and development possibilities, looking also at definition of the materials and defining new markets for recyclingIn the U.K. the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) has completed a study entitled Waste Minimisation and Recycling in Construction, which included the development of good practice guides for designers and construction personnel. The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) is undertaking a study project into a system for collecting data on recycling activities to be carried out through the Environment Agency and to monitor progress towards targets in MPG6. The U.K. Highways Agency and the Transport Research Laboratory are also involved in research into the use of construction and demolition waste in road construction, particularly regarding specification issues, pilot demonstration schemes. This includes a BRE demonstration program called Phoenix which involved construction of a new office building primarily from recovered and recycled construction and demolition waste. Waste exchanges are also available. As mentioned in a Case Study above, the DETR and the BRE operate the internet-base Construction and Demolition materials information exchange (web address: http://helios.bre.co.uk/exchange). A similar scheme was set up by the County of Berkshire and illustrated some of the problems which can occur if access to the site is through a main site and continuing resources are not guaranteed to operate it. The UK government does not operate any formal educational or training programmes specifically geared to CMTW management in the UK but provides financial support to bodies such as CIRIA, which do. The Environmental Services Association (ESA) an industry body, runs training courses on waste management in general, including aspects on CMTW management. Perusal of their current training brochure however, reveals that "Recycling Practices and Options" is run as a two day course upon completion of which "delegates will understand the environmental, legislative and economic factors driving recycling. The vagaries of different materials and the various options available in collection and processing will also be understood". In their one-week course on Practical Waste Management, however, this subject appears near the end of 27 major themes to be covered in a five-day period. There is a role for greater dissemination of information, termed by the DETR as policy "advocacy" to describe a greater awareness of issues. Advisory services such as the Aggregate Advisory Service which was set up on a trial basis have been considered successful and review is being carried out as to continuance on a permanent basis. It is clear that a trans-European exchange of experience could greatly assist in the preparation of training material for the sector. Footnotes
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