Construction Waste from Perspective of the Disperse Systems Stabilisation Theory

Abstract

Introduction. Every year, the scale of construction of buildings and structures in the large cities increases, thus leading to generation and accumulation of a considerable amount of a wide range of different sort of construction waste in various aggregate states. At the same time, each type of waste is characterised by a certain set of properties with the parameters that determine the possibility of its future reuse, therefore there arise the urgent problems to be solved by society not only concerning the reduction of the environmental pollution, but also disposal, and at best recycling the waste.The data on the specifications of the construction waste properties, which determine its behaviour in the environment, is extremely important for solving these problems.In the works of the native and foreign scientists on solving the construction waste management problems, the features of its behaviour in the environment were hardly ever studied, nor was the relationship between the distinctive features of its components and the environment characteristics enough revealed, and the boundary conditions referring to this relationship were not fully taken into account.That is why the authors present the results of the research on the classification of the distinctive features of the construction waste by grouping the parameters of their properties based on the theory of disperse systems stabilisation. Besides, the parameters of the construction waste properties have been investigated both for the dispersed phase and the dispersion medium, whereas the physical entity of the processes and phenomena observed in the construction waste has been chosen as the main classification criteria.Thus, the research aims to analyse and systematise the construction waste properties, based on the theory of disperse systems stabilisation in terms of extending the scope of the waste reuse in various sectors of economy.Materials and Methods. The object of the study is the construction waste generated in a result of the technological processes at the enterprises of the construction industry. Construction waste and its properties are investigated from perspective of the theory of disperse systems stabilisation. The classification of the parameters of the construction waste properties is carried out on the basis of the physical processes and phenomena that are characteristic for a particular type of waste. The construction waste properties and the parameters describing them are presented both for the dispersed phase and the dispersion medium.Results. As a result of the conducted research, the generalised parameters of the construction waste properties have been systematised based on the theory of disperse systems stabilisation in terms of extending the scope of the waste reuse in the business activities that leads to reducing the environmental pollution.Discussion and Conclusions. The proposed classification of the construction waste parameters will make it possible: – to change the behaviour of the waste in the environment aiming to reduce the environmental pollution and to extract the waste components from the environment for their further reuse in the business activity after pre-treatment resulting in the necessary property parameters;– to decrease waste stability, i.e. its ability to resist the external impacts, and thereby also ensure the reduction of the environmental pollution at the final stage of the waste life cycle.