Recycling potential in building energy renovation: A prospective study of the Dutch residential building stock up to 2050

Chunbo Zhang,Mingming Hu,Benjamin Sprecher,Xining Yang,Xiaoyang Zhong,Chen Li,Arnold Tukker

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126835

Chunbo Zhang, Mingming Hu + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126835

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Abstract

Building energy and construction and demolition waste (CDW) are highly relevant but intertwined issues for the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular built environment. Ongoing energy renovation uses an increasing number of emerging materials that pose a challenge for recycling. As a response, a novel technological system has been proposed to recycle CDW (including insulation mineral wool and lightweight concrete) for the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements (PCEs) for use as façades for new (PCE-new) and retrofitting existing (PCE-refurbs) buildings. To explore how this novel system can improve recycling potential as part of building energy renovation efforts, the Dutch residential building stock was selected as a case study. Using a dynamic material flow analysis, we explore the supply-demand balance of secondary raw materials made from CDW (including normal-weight and lightweight concrete, glass, insulation mineral wool, and steel) and the secondary raw materials required for manufacturing PCEs in building energy renovation for the period 2015–2050. Our findings show that with advanced recycling technology, the secondary raw materials recovered from normal-weight concrete waste, glass waste, insulation mineral wool waste, and steel scrap will be more than sufficient to support the manufacturing of PCE-new walls, implying the possibility of closed-loop construction. However, for emerging materials such as lightweight concrete, the related waste will not be sufficient in the near future to meet the raw material demand for large-scale refurbishment with PCE-refurbs. Therefore, the Dutch case shows that the novel technology system offers a promising solution to CDW management problems in building energy renovation, but primary raw materials will still be needed for the increased use of emerging materials such as lightweight concrete.

Highlights

To fully consider the impact of the emerging waste, we developed a dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) model to evaluate the supplydemand balance between the secondary raw materials made from construction and demolition waste (CDW) and the raw materials required for the manufacturing of prefabricated concrete elements (PCEs) for the period 2015e2050
The anthropogenic cycle of building materials is generally considered to consist of five life phases, as shown in Fig. 2; we focused on the recycling phase only, in which CDW was assumed to be reprocessed to manufacture secondary raw materials
Ongoing building energy renovation is accompanied by emerging materials such as mineral wool insulation and lightweight concrete, triggering new problems of disposal

Summary

Introduction

Potential of material circularity in building energy renovation. The construction and operation of buildings in the European Union (EU) account for approximately half of all raw material consumption and generates approximately one-. It is generally recognized that a circular economydwith the principle of “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (3R)”dshould become the basis of circular waste management and material cycles (Kirchherr et al, 2017). Circular construction adopts the 3R rule for construction and demolition waste (CDW) management (Ghaffar et al, 2020). The essence of circular construction is to keep the components and materials of buildings in a closed loop and maximize their value as long as possible (Benachio et al, 2020).

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