Using the Circular Economy to Manage Construction Waste

10 pages•Published: September 25, 2020

Abstract

This paper explores using the practice of a circular economy to reduce the amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste that is generated and going to landfills. The circular economy is a system where waste is minimized and resources are in use for as long as possible through recycling and reuse. This is in contrast to a linear economy where raw materials are extracted, used to make a product, and disposed of. This research is intended to address three issues facing the world which are increasing C&D waste due to an increase in population and urbanism, limited natural resources, and limited land available for landfills. Buildings are major consumers of resources and producers of waste. In 2015, the built environment generated two times the amount of waste than municipal solid waste in the US. The methodology includes gathering recent C&D waste statistics and researching case studies on the circular economy. The goal of this research is to reduce the amount of C&D waste sent to landfills by evaluating current waste management practices and providing recommendations to make C&D waste in line with the circular economy.

Keyphrases: c&d waste, circular economy, landfills

In: Tom Leathem (editor). Associated Schools of Construction Proceedings of the 56th Annual International Conference, vol 1, pages 310-319.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/zHqv
	https://doi.org/10.29007/5dl3

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2020:Using_Circular_Economy_Manage,
  author    = {Riann Gonzalez and Abdol Chini},
  title     = {Using the Circular Economy to Manage Construction Waste},
  booktitle = {Associated Schools of Construction Proceedings of the 56th Annual International Conference},
  editor    = {Tom Leathem},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {1},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/zHqv},
  doi       = {10.29007/5dl3},
  pages     = {310-319},
  year      = {2020}}

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