Assessment of Construction and Demolition Waste plant management in Spain: in pursuit of sustainability and eco-efficiency

Abstract

Abstract Construction and demolition waste is a major problem in modern society, as it accounts for 25–30% of all the solid waste generated yearly. Its proper handling is one of the mainstays of European waste management policy, which aims to sever the direct relationship between economic growth and the increase in waste generation, lowering associated environmental impacts and furthering recycling and sustainability. To date, no paper has been published in the international literature on the C&DW management model in place in an EU Member State. To fill that gap, the present article analyses Spain's model, with a view to identifying and assessing the industry's strengths and weaknesses. Such analyses are of key importance, given the decisive impact of the management model on the technical and economic viability of using the end product (recycled aggregate) in new applications in construction (structural applications) and hence capitalising on the economic and social benefits to be reaped. The present model is found to be characterised by private plants with an intra-provincial waste reception and product commercialisation radius of no more than 30 km. Government's role in the model is mainly confined to establishing a legislative framework that regulates and fosters construction and demolition waste recycling, with scant financial participation or adoption of effective incentives for using recycled aggregate. The incoming product is primarily mixed construction and demolition waste with a high clay-based material content. In Spain, then, private enterprise is the sector that has committed most firmly to C&DW recycling, a business whose continuity is presently threatened by the slump in the construction industry and the ready availability of natural aggregate in Spain, compared to which the recycled product is not competitive. The current management model is consequently in need of revision, with special emphasis on government's role in furthering the use of processed construction and demolition waste as a raw material for the manufacture of new construction products.