Environmental performance of construction and demolition waste management strategies for valorization of recycled coarse aggregate

This study reports on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparison between two different Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) management strategies to produce Recycled Coarse Aggregate (RCA): the current recycling strategy (RCA-C) versus air jig strategy (RCA-PR). Additionally, RCAs are compared to natural aggregate production. Air jig is proposed as a recycling strategy for CDW sustainable reuse and recycling. In contrast to RCA-C, air jig allows better CDW segregation, providing recycled materials with better quality. The results point out that recycling strategies differ in segregation efficiency, the quality of recycled material produced, and environmental performance. Both recycling strategies provided environmental benefits when compared to natural aggregate. RCA-PR presents better environmental performance due to the larger number of by-products generated as a result of using air jig and it is able to reduce the environmental impacts related to its management based on the benefits of its by-products. The results suggest that the production and transport of RCA are viable from an environmental point of view in larger urban centers. This study provides a better understanding of CDW management, enhancing knowledge on the environmental performance of the current practice and a future proposal recycling strategy. Moreover, it opens up a new perspective on the multifunctionality associated with recycling strategies of CDW and understanding about air jig environmental impacts.

Automated summary

This study compares two different CDW management strategies and finds that the air jig strategy has better environmental performance and quality of recycled materials, reducing the environmental impacts related to its management.