Sustainable reverse logistic of construction and demolition wastes in French regions: Towards sustainable practices

Abstract

Abstract The continuous increase of the population and its need of housing and infrastructure lead the necessity to build more. With this increase comes also a high use of concrete and concrete based materials. Thus, the construction sector is becoming one of the most resource-devouring one. Not only this sector is consuming in France 435 million tons of natural aggregates annually, but also generating 260 million tons of construction & demolition wastes (C&DW). The European Union's framework directive 2008/98/CE is aiming to valorize and recycle 70% of C&DW by 2020. Based on material flow analysis (MFA), the actual status and potential improvement of handling dwelling wastes in a closed loop as a sustainable practice were assessed. To do so, an MFA based methodology is provided in this paper to assess the regional ability of a country to develop closed loop reverse logistic practices in the dwelling sector. Then, challenges and opportunities towards a sustainable and resilient reverse logistic of dwelling wastes as a part of C&DW are provided.