Techno-economic and environmental assessment of construction and demolition waste management in the European Union
Construction and demolition waste (CDW) accounts for more than one third of all waste generated in the EU. The European Commission is taking important legislative and non-legislative steps to ensure CDW is managed in an environmentally sound manner and contributes to the circular economy. This report reviews, analyses and reconciles data on CDW generation, composition and management at EU27 level. It also performs an environmental and techno-economic assessment of the most important management technologies through life cycle assessment and life cycle costing, to provide data for further feasibility assessments of preparation for reuse and recycling objectives for individual material fractions. Results show that, provided uptake of best available technologies, recycling and preparation for reuse are preferred over incineration and landfilling for most of the individual material fractions of CDW because of the associated environmental benefits. However, such shift comes with increased financial costs for most materials, except for soils and dredging spoils, for which uncertainties are however significant. The study further estimates the potential for recycling and preparation for reuse for each individual material fraction of CDW, indicating that 83% of CDW can potentially be sent.
