DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABLE CONCRETE WASTE RECYCLING SYSTEM

Construction solid waste has caused serious environmental problems. Reuse, recycling and reduction of construction materials have been advocated for many years, and various methods have been investigated. There may be six type of building materials: plastic, paper, timber, metal, glass and concrete which can be reused and recycled. This paper examines the rate of reusable & recyclable concrete waste. On the other hand, the reuse of construction waste is highly essential from the viewpoint of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and effective recycling of construction resources. In order to promote the reuse of construction waste, it is necessary to achieve three basic concepts: (1) assurance of safety and quality, (2) decrease of environmental impact, and (3) increase of cost effectiveness of construction. This paper outlines the development of a recycling system, application of recycled aggregate concrete produced by the aggregate replacing method, which is effective in reducing both cost and environmental impact from the viewpoint of LCA for concrete waste generated by the demolition of large-scale buildings such as powerhouses. Moreover, with the adoption of the developed recycling system, it was confirmed possible to recycle concrete waste produced from the demolition buildings in a highly effective manner reducing both recycling cost and Environmental impact.