Waste reduction final report -4 - Test Input

The total volume is 4.5 Mm3; total waste weight is 6 MT. It is obvious that percentages
depend on the densities of materials. The biggest differences exist for combustibles, wood,
metals and concrete. When considering waste, its amounts and treatment methods, it is
therefore crucial to consider the way of expressing the figures.
At this point, it is interesting to look back to Figure 5. Buildings demolished today have an
age of about 50 to 100 years. When not taking into account road construction waste and
asphalt in the calculations for volume percentages in Figure 8, data corresponds well to
building composition between 1900 and 1960.
The following figure shows the origin of the remnants according to demolition, refurbishment
or new construction. The waste streams generated by new construction are very small
compared to about 93 % in volume of the waste stemming from demolition (41 % in volume)
and refurbishment (52 % in volume).
Figure 9: Origin of house building waste: Refurbishment, new construction, demolition (in
1000 tons) [FOEN 2008c].
Concrete and bricking stem mainly from demolition activities, whereas the main waste from
refurbishment consists out of mixed demolition material and bricking. For burnable waste,
wood and metals, the main waste source is refurbishment, too.
In civil engineering, more than 50% of the waste is produced in the sector of road
construction. About one fourth originates from activities related to railway and water supply
infrastructure. As a result, more than 90% of the waste consists out of gravel/sand, asphalt
and concrete:
95