Sei sulla pagina 1di 6

Chapter 3 :Construction and Demolition Magdich P.& Thomas Higgin E.

Construction and demolition wastes

Recycling industry

Growing evidence suggests that previous studies considerably underestimated the amount of
construction and demolition waste being recycled or reclaimed. In terms of recycling, the landfill
tax has contributed to a big increase in the number of fixed and mobile crushing and recycling
sites. From an estimate of less than 100 in 1994 (Howard Humphries and Partners, 1994), there
are now thought to be in excess of 400 sites. Some of these inert waste recycling sites are
experiencing shortages of materials or customers depending on location.

Contamination of C&D waste

Waste from new construction is composed primarily of a mixture of unused or damaged raw
materials, as well as off-cuts (discarded cut material) and packaging. Demolition waste includes
actual building components, such as full-length studs and concrete slabs. The largest component
of demolition waste is concrete, followed by brick and clay, wood and metals.

Waste materials from new construction are usually clean and relatively uncontaminated; whereas
demolition waste materials are often dirty or contaminated and are mixed with other materials.
These differences between C&D wastes create specific opportunities and challenges for waste
reduction. Although C&D waste is generally inert, a number of hazardous or potentially hazardous
substances can be present (Table III).

Many of the materials on the above list are transformed during the construction process into inert
materials as they dry (paints and adhesives). However, residual materials in partially used
containers require proper management and handling.

Work at the BRE (Gutt and Smith, 1976) noted that bricks, stones and concrete from demolition
sites were used extensively in the UK and Germany after 1945. However, difficulties arose when
gypsum, gypsum plasterboard, mortar, wood and organics were present in the concrete mixes.

The contamination of construction and demolition wastes can take various forms, as follows:

 Mixed contamination – resulting from mixing of materials during excavation from site.
Waste concrete removed, for example, from a floor may be mixed with contaminated soil,
other materials or other wastes. Research at the BRE has supported the negative impact
of gross contamination on the potential for recycling concrete (Collins, 1986).
 Surface contamination – materials that have been used in foundations, road construction
or in ground works are likely to have been in intimate contact with soil. Surface
contamination could also include coatings and sheeting that have been used to protect
the materials during their service life but are a barrier to reuse.
 Absorbed contamination – contaminants that are soluble and mobile can potentially be
absorbed into porous building materials. These contaminants are likely to be present in

389
Chapter 3 :Construction and Demolition Magdich P.& Thomas Higgin E.

Contaminated land and C&D wastes

When industrial plants and premises are closed, controlled decommissioning, decontamination
and demolition may be required to avoid risks to human health and the environment from
hazardous and other residues in or on plant components or buildings, or as stockpiles of surplus
materials (CIRIA, 1993).

Standard sampling and analytical methods for determination of the extent of contamination
present on building or equipment surfaces are not available. However, a number of techniques
can be applied to materials on the building fabric. Surface samples can be taken using wet or dry
phase wipes, while for porous materials it is necessary to use cores or drillings. The highest
concentrations of contaminants are generally in cracks, crevices, corners and other
discontinuities. This should be taken into account in designing any sampling strategy. Sampling
for contaminants in a building using grid patterns, or derivatives of them, could allow a picture to
be built up of the spread of contamination.

Sampling and analysis of contaminated C&D wastes can be undertaken at any stage of the
demolition and processing of the wastes. The methods employed for the analysis of C&D wastes
are no different from methods used to assess the composition of building materials or soils. The
following can be used:

 Total (or acid soluble) concentrations – for the assessment of inorganic contaminants.
The sample will be taken by coring, drilling or crushing larger samples or structures. The
material will be dried (in air) and crushed. The sample is then dissolved in acid and the
extract analysed by GC-MS (Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectroscopy), ICP (Inductively
Coupled Plasma) techniques, etc. for the concentration of heavy metal, sulfate, chloride,
etc.
 Water soluble concentrations – for the assessment of inorganic contaminants. A sample
of material is shaken with water (e.g. 2:1 extract) and the resultant leachate is filtered off.
The leachate is subsequently assessed by GC-MS, ICP, etc.
 Leachates – Suitable methods have been developed to assess the concentration of
contaminants in leachate. These include column and diffusion tank tests (Mulder, 1991).

The research

C&D waste treatment processes separate the coarse and fine fractions. The former is suitable for
use as aggregate, for which selection is based on appropriate engineering criteria, and for which
contamination may not be an important issue. The fine fractions may be used as a soil according
to criteria set out in BS3882: 1994, which does not specifically address chemical contamination
arising as a consequence of previous use of the material. In the absence of other guidelines, an
initial assessment is made on the basis of whether or not a waste product passes or fails criteria
set out within the ICRCL guidelines (Interdepartmental Committee on the Redevelopment of
Contaminated Land, 1987) or the Dutch list (Ferguson and Denner, 1994) (i.e. do concentrations
of an element or organic species exceed action or intervention values?). In neither the Dutch list
nor the ICRCL guidelines were the criteria designed to be applicable directly to demolition and
construction waste, and so risk assessment using values from these sources strictly is not
appropriate. The Dutch list (in its most recent form) takes into account toxicological factors
relating to the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for humans, and so to some extent reflects the
availability of the contaminants for ingestion.

C&D waste contamination varies across and within sites, and thus has a spatial dimension
suitable for sampling procedures guided by geostatistics. However, on demolition, the C&D waste
enters a processing stream, passing through a crusher, or at least being transported a short
distance across a site. It is then part of a materials flow stream that will vary in contamination with

390
Chapter 3 :Construction and Demolition Magdich P.& Thomas Higgin E.

time as different types of waste enter the process stream. Thus temporal sampling strategies are
needed to integrate contaminant levels over a period of time, enabling the frequency with which a
given C&D waste process stream fails trigger value criteria to be assessed.

In view of these uncertainties, the research programme at the Building Research Establishment
and the University of Manchester has the following objectives:

 to develop a methodology and system of risk assessment for contaminants in building


and demolition waste;
 to develop standard guidelines for C&D waste sampling for use in monitoring and
assessing the risk of contamination;
 to produce clear, adaptable methodologies which are equally capable of use and
application by SME companies as well as larger construction and waste management
organisations.

The programme is intended to address the risk assessment process and requires that
investigation is made of suitable sampling and analytical techniques for contamination of C&D
wastes. It also incorporates a study of operator’s decision-making processes and actions in
recycling C&D wastes. • Wastes from new construction are composed primarily of mixtures of
unused or damaged raw materials, as well as off-cuts (discarded cut material) and packaging.
The largest component of waste from new construction is lumber and wood followed by gypsum
wallboard, cardboard, plastic packaging and metal. Demolition wastes include actual building
components such as full-length studs and concrete slabs. The largest component of demolition
waste is concrete followed by wood, brick, clay and metal.

Sampling of uncontaminated waste streams

In order to address both the background levels in this type of waste and the temporal changes of
the levels of inorganic substances in the concrete, samples are being taken from two recycling
plants each week, one processing mixed C&D wastes from demolished buildings and
infrastructure and one processing road planings. The samples are being tested for levels of
metals, sulfates and chlorides. These tests are intended to develop baseline data from which
contamination levels in “uncontaminated” sources can be assessed.

In addition, the natural chemical background levels present in various building materials, such as
differing varieties of bricks and concrete, are also being established.

Sampling of contaminated sources

The strategy being used to develop the risk assessment of contamination in C&D wastes is to
undertake sampling and analysis of materials from structures on former industrial sites.

Site assessment includes the following:

 Site walkovers to identify potentially contaminated structures and foundations;


 Desk studies of available background information such as environmental site
investigations and reports;
 Discussions with the developer and previous staff. Empirical knowledge of the site during
its industrial use is an invaluable part of site assessment;
 Identification of those areas of the site which are most likely to have been in contact with
contaminants.

391
Chapter 3 :Construction and Demolition Magdich P.& Thomas Higgin E.

The sampling of floor areas is undertaken by coring the concrete using standard rotary coring
equipment. Core diameters of 100 and 200mm are used in the sampling. Difficulties in
determining an appropriate sampling pattern arise because:

 The positioning of machinery and the shape of the building can mean that a grid structure
is inappropriate and a regular sampling pattern or randomised structure is not possible.
The sampling strategy must therefore concentrate on areas where contamination may
exist, which can even include driveways, tank farms, cellars and pits.
 Concrete floors are of variable thickness, age and type; even within a few metres the type
of concrete can vary greatly. Some cores through all the flooring strata can be extracted
quickly and with ease, while others present major removal problems.

Sample cores are split to allow chemical tests and physical tests to be undertaken. Physical tests
include strength and permeability. Electron microscopy can characterise the materials. The
chemical tests include total contaminant concentrations on crushed samples from various depths
in the core, diffusion tank tests on bulk samples and leachate column tests. Where the C&D
waste is being crushed on site for reuse in land modelling, access roads on site or off site sale,
the fine materials are sampled on a daily basis for chemical analysis.

Most of the sites being investigated have ceased to operate. All contain a variety of buildings
where different industrial processes have taken place.

Samples are currently being taken from the following redevelopment sites:

 A 7ha paper mill complex on which paper was manufactured for over 100 years;
 A lead smelting house attached to an explosives factory;
 The foundations of a former silicone plant;
 A textile manufacturing complex and bleach works;
 A 100ha colliery complex where surface structures were demolished ten years ago. The
site incorporated a coal mine, a power station, a coke manufacturing plant and coal
washing facilities. It is still thought to contain in excess of 350,000 tons of C&D waste.

Further sites so far identified as being of interest to the project and from which samples will
probably be taken include the following:

 A wire works
 Former chemical laboratories
 Multi-story apartment blocks
 Gas work sites, including one site on which the production of gas ceased 50 years ago.
Samples from such a site could provide a comparative study of changes in degree of
contamination over time.

392
Chapter 3 :Construction and Demolition Magdich P.& Thomas Higgin E.

Current practice in C&D waste recycling

The study of operator’s decision-making processes and actions in recycling C&D wastes has
revealed several problems relating to the recycling of C&D wastes in the UK, notably:

 The imposition of the landfill tax, coupled with ever-increasing transport costs and tipping
charges, mean that the disposal of C&D waste to landfill is rapidly ceasing to be a
commercial option. However, whilst this tax has indeed reduced the amount of C&D
waste being disposed of to landfill, exemptions to the tax permit the unregulated disposal
of inert C&D waste as improvement to agricultural land or for the development of
recreational facilities. Increased disposal costs are thus encouraging low grade recycling
activities.
 Development time constraints, transport and disposal costs, and the low monetary value
of recycled C&D waste encourage the retention of C&D waste “on site” for land modelling
purposes, regardless of whether or not this is environmentally desirable.
 Timber is a major problem to contractors recycling C&D waste. It cannot be burned and it
must be disposed to landfill. Separation from concrete and bricks is costly.
 If a site is mainly covered by concrete, environmental site assessors only dig trial pits in
“soft” areas and only soils are analysed.

The decision on whether or not material is contaminated is made on the basis of the contaminant
levels found during soil analysis and on visual inspection only. Time and cost constraints render
the separate analysis of “hard” C&D wastes uneconomical. The Environment Agency accepts this
practice. The Environment Agency take the view that it is preferable to concentrate on levels of
pollutants present in the finer particles because of their mobility and because of the increased
leachability of fine material. The prime concerns of the agency are contamination to the wider
environment and the subsequent reuse of the site.

It is therefore reasonable to assume that contaminated C&D waste is being reused and
uncontaminated C&D waste is being condemned to landfill.

Table I. Major Components of C&D Wastes

393
Chapter 3 :Construction and Demolition Magdich P.& Thomas Higgin E.

Table II. Estimated Composition of New Construction Wastes

Table III.Hazardous substances in C&D wastes

394

Potrebbero piacerti anche