Waste reduction final report -4 - Test Input

view, avoidance of landfill fees brings significant cost savings. Unfortunately, legal general
conditions restrict the reuse of even uncontaminated excavation material.
Wood
Wood represents about 6% of all materials used in house building. A big advantage of this
natural renewable resource is that there is nearly no waste arising because at each processing
phase there are products which can be used for energy production or for chipboard for
example. Furthermore, the specific properties of wood are advantageous to others, such as a
low weight, very good insulation properties or high bearing strength. As a result, wood can be
used for insulations, for supporting parts or for siding. In Switzerland, construction wooden
waste is mainly incinerated. Often the material is treated with chemicals which hinder (re-
) use of it. There are already many solutions to wood use without chemicals, which brings the
further advantage of a better indoor air quality. An adept placement of wooden material,
adequate time for painting or a good room climate is only some of appropriate employment
strategies.
Today, Swiss forests are not exploited well. Only 4 Mm3 out of 7.5 Mm3 economical
harvestable woods are taken out of the forests. In view of CO 2 savings and emissions, a study
by the FOEN shows that it would be beneficial for Switzerland to exploit its timber resources
better.
The study estimates a saving of 0.7 t CO 2 per m 3 of wood substituting another material out of
which 0.3t is saved in Switzerland. Additionally, wood can be led to an energetic use and
therefore contribute to additional savings of 0.6 t [FOEN 2007]. Not least, wood use in
construction can therefore contribute to reaching the Kyoto goals and is an important actor in
climate change discussions. Long transport to import materials can be mitigated when using
wood of regional forests in construction.
Materials out of poly vinyl chloride (PVC)
Substitution for the many other materials used in construction engineering, there shall be
presented the material PVC. It is a popular material due to its properties, but also due to its
relative low grey energy [eco-devis 2002] and has more and more been used in the
construction sector in the last decades. Therefore, there can be expected a certain amount of
PVC materials emerging from demolition activities over the next decades.
For example, 85,000 t of crude PVC and 94,000 t of finished products such as windows,
tubes, floorings have been imported in 2007, out of which about ¾ are sold in the
construction sector [PVCH 2009], this means there were about 134,000 t of PVC materials
used in constructions in 2007.
Even if incineration of PVC waste is environmentally unproblematic, a recycling is desirable
given that PVC is based on to 43% on crude oil. However, there have to be considered the
environmentally relevant ingredients.
There has recently started a recycling system in Switzerland to recycle PVC pipes emerging
at demolition activities so that they do not go to the incineration plant [PVCH 2009].
Additionally to the take back of PVC pipes, there exists a joint venture for recycling of PVC
flooring (www.arpschweiz.ch).
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