Waste reduction final report -4 - Test Input

Table 3: Construction waste material types and amounts in civil engineering [FOEN 2008c].
Material MT Percent
Gravel/Sand 5.17 60%
Asphalt 2.33 26%
Concrete 0.99 11%
Bricking 0.17 2%
Mineral remaining fraction 0.08 1%
Total 8.74 100%
Recycling methods are well known and well-proven for these materials and widely accepted.
The total volume of waste is not supposed to rise much in the future (see chapter 0).
Furthermore, [Brunner, et al. 2006] estimates a constant demolition rate of about 0.3%
between 1990 and 2050. Other materials in civil engineering not considered here are e.g.
steel, polyethylene, or other plastics.
After we have seen that many different waste types arise, chapter 0 will present ways of
disposal and recycling commonly used in Switzerland.
Disposal methods
In the past, the majority of mineral demolition material was disposed of in landfills and
therefore consider the life cycle. Primary resources, especially gravel, were strained more and
more with rising building activities and new ways of waste treatment were established. Figure
10 shows the different disposal routes of construction waste in 1997 with an estimated total
of 11.1 MT of construction waste (see also p. 23).
Figure 10: Disposal routes of construction waste 1997 [FOEN 2001].
Most of the waste is directly used on the construction site – this is mainly possible in civil
engineering. Indirect use can be recycling or another appropriate treatment and use. The
percentage of landfilled material is still quite high, but should be reducing due to new
regulations and efforts for reuse of materials. Incineration takes mainly place for wood. For
civil engineering, some more detailed data was available on Table 4.
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