Environmental performance of construction waste: Comparing three scenarios from a case study in Catalonia, Spain

Journal Article · Thu Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2009.11.013· OSTI ID:21357655

Ortiz, O ^[1]; Pasqualino, J C; Castells, F ^[1]

---

1. Rovira i Virgili University, Environmental Analysis and Management Group (AGA), Chemical Engineering Department, Av. Paisos Catalans 26, 43007, Tarragona (Spain)

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate environmental impacts of construction wastes in terms of the LIFE 98 ENV/E/351 project. Construction wastes are classified in accordance with the Life Program Environment Directive of the European Commission. Three different scenarios to current waste management from a case study in Catalonia (Spain) have been compared: landfilling, recycling and incineration, and these scenarios were evaluated by means of Life Cycle Assessment. The recommendations of the Catalan Waste Catalogue and the European Waste Catalogue have been taken into account. Also, the influence of transport has been evaluated. Results show that in terms of the Global Warming Potential, the most environmentally friendly treatment was recycling, followed by incineration and lastly landfilling. According to the influence of treatment plants location on the GWP indicator, we observe that incineration and recycling of construction wastes are better than landfilling, even for long distances from the building site to the plants. This is true for most wastes except for the stony types, than should be recycled close to the building site. In summary, data from construction waste of a Catalan case study was evaluated using the well established method of LCA to determine the environmental impacts.

• OSTI ID: 21357655
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Vol. 30, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2009.11.013; PII: S0956-053X(09)00500-5; Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
COMBUSTION
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
RECYCLING
SOLID WASTES
SPAIN
WASTE MANAGEMENT
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLIMATIC CHANGE
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
EUROPE
INDUSTRY
MANAGEMENT
OXIDATION
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES
WESTERN EUROPE