All About Managing Construction Waste & Aggregate Recycling

Summary 

Construction waste management is of great importance in order to make construction a sustainable process. Aggregate recycling is a great way to reduce construction waste. Aggregates can be of two types: primary aggregates and secondary aggregates. Recycling construction waste can have various advantages for both humans and the environment. Construction waste consists of bricks, masonry, concrete and so on. Recycling construction waste can be easy if you plan the entire procedure well and contact a local waste recycling company.

All About Managing Construction Waste & Aggregate Recycling

To make living sustainable, waste management is of great importance. Waste management and recycling is the best way to avoid the exploitation of resources and use them responsibly. In the United Kingdom, the construction sector uses the maximum amount of resources and produces about 60 million tonnes of CDW or construction & demolition waste as the data of 2016. Waste generated from construction sites can be extremely dangerous for the environment. Thus, it is a necessity to switch to methods like aggregate recycling and other construction waste management procedures to decrease the amount of waste generated or left out after demolition or construction.

How does Aggregate Recycling Help in Reducing Construction Waste?

Aggregate recycling is one of the best methods to minimize construction waste. In aggregate recycling, the aggregate from construction sites is collected via general waste clearance or grab hire services to recycle them for reusing the recycled aggregates in a new construction project. Aggregates used in construction include concrete, asphalt, bricks glass and so on. Some of these materials get are left unused or get wasted after the completion of the project. These waste materials, if not disposed of or treated responsibly can be extremely harmful to the environment. To avoid harmful environmental consequences and waste of resources, these waste materials can be collected via a skip hire service and processed further to reuse them.

Similarly, when an old structure is demolished the waste materials generated are disposed of either carelessly or are left out in the area of demolition. In this case, as well, the most responsible act will be to recycle them to further use. Recycled aggregates are a sustainable way of managing construction waste as it reduces the need for virgin materials in construction and thus, it also prevents the resources from being exploited.

What are the Different Categories of Aggregates?

Aggregates are mainly of two different types.

• Primary Aggregates 

• Secondary Aggregates
  

The raw materials or virgin materials like fresh concrete, glass, bricks, limestone, etc that are used for construction are known as primary aggregates or quarried aggregates. The materials are mostly the byproducts of several industrial processes like recycled concrete, asphalt and other construction-related materials are called secondary or recycled aggregates. To create recycled aggregated the construction waste materials are collected from demolition sites or construction sites via general waste clearance or earth removal services and processed in factories to make them useable for further construction.

What are the Different Advantages of Recycling Construction Waste?

Disposing construction waste irresponsibly can have severe environmental complications. However, the reduction of construction waste disposal by recycling can be advantageous in several ways. The various advantages of recycling construction waste disposal are as follows:

• Construction involves the use of materials like iron as well as steel in huge quantities. Producing iron or steel as virgin materials contributes to air pollution which can have severe health implications. Thus, recycling the iron or steel waste generated from construction or demolition sites will reduce air pollution as well as water pollution considerably and thus help the environment as well the people in living a healthy life. Recycling construction materials like steel and iron will help in reducing environmental pollution and make our planet a safe place to live.

• Aggregate recycling can help in reducing the overall construction expenses. Since you are using recycled materials for construction the cost of buying virgin materials decreases. It also helps in decreasing the cost of transportation as well as disposal of materials since the recycled aggregates are mostly used.

• Recycling construction waste helps save the materials that would otherwise be used in construction. It reduces the demand for raw materials and thus helps in saving natural resources and makes construction an environment-friendly sustainable process.

• Construction waste also contains aluminium, mostly used in window frames as well as door components. Aluminium cannot be disposed of easily as it does not dissolve with soil easily. Moreover, producing aluminium requires a lot of energy. This energy can be saved by recycling aluminium waste generated from construction sites.

• With aggregate recycling, the land space that would be otherwise used for disposing of construction waste can be saved. As most of the waste produced from construction sites will get recycled, the need for landfills will also be minimum and thus the cost related to landfills will also be less.

Despite these major advantages of recycling construction waste, there are also certain disadvantages. The process of recycling is not cost-effective all the time. It can include setting up a new unit for aggregate recycling or upgrading an existing unit for recycling, disposal of chemical waste and so on. The sites where the construction wastes are recycled are mostly unhygienic and can lead to the spread of infectious diseases or cause pollution. Recycled Construction materials are not usually durable in comparison to virgin materials. Thus, cannot be used in major construction projects. Despite being environmentally friendly and a sustainable process, recycling is not practised on a large scale.

What are the Different Types of Construction Waste?

The different types of construction waste include:

• Bricks: Bricks are generally found as waste materials found in the demolition sites. Most of the time bricks are found contaminated with plaster or mortar. When recycled these wastes are combined with concrete or timber for further use. At present bricks are crushed in the process of recycling and are used as filling materials in construction. 

• Iron and Steel: Iron and steel are among the most used materials in construction. This construction waste is extremely profitable and can also be completely recycled.

• Masonry: Masonry waste is also generated from demolished structures. These waste materials are further processed and reused as recycled aggregate masonry.

• Concrete: Concrete waste can also be further recycled and mixed along with fresh concrete. This is generally used in making trenches as well as in constructing roads.

• Plastic: Plastic can be recycled very easily once they are separately collected as well as clean. Contaminated plastic cannot be recycled easily. Recycled plastic can be used in windows or roofing and so on.

• Timber: Timbers are among the most generated waste materials from construction ad demolition sites. These materials can be recycled easily and further used in new construction projects in place of new timber.

• Non-ferrous metals: Materials like copper, aluminium, and zinc are also produced in large quantities on construction sites. Most of these non-ferrous materials can be easily recycled and used further in a new construction project.

How Can you Recycle Construction Debris?

Mentioned below are the various steps that can help one recycle construction waste.

• The first and the most important step is to look for a recycling centre in your locality before you begin with some kind of work. It is very important to find a recycling centre that is local as it can save both your time and money. You can visit the recycling centre and ask them about the materials they recycle. This way you can dispose of and recycle construction waste responsibly.

• You can choose to deconstruct a building instead of demolishing it. This way, recycling waste materials will become easy. There are some waste management companies in Birmingham that help in the deconstruction of a building and taking away the parts that are no longer necessary to recycle the materials and use them somewhere else.

• Before you begin construction work, planning is of great importance. Construction is an expensive process when it comes to buying all the fresh raw materials. Instead, of buying all fresh materials you can make use of the materials that were left out from a previous construction project or the ones that were torn apart. 

• Once you are done deciding on a recycling centre, you can separate the construction waste to let the groundworks services provider collect them for recycling.

Managing construction waste is extremely important to keep our environment and ourselves healthy. Aggregate recycling is an excellent way to make construction sustainable. Construction is not only an expensive process but it also contributes to the excessive use of natural resources. Producing new construction material involves a lot of energy consumption, especially in the case of aluminium materials. Construction waste is also a contributor to water and air pollution. Thus, to save the money spent on buying virgin materials and for making construction safe for the people and the environment, recycling construction waste is a necessity.

Some of the waste management companies that provide grab hire, and green waste clearance services also provide services like construction waste recycling or aggregate recycling. These companies can help you deal with construction waste by collecting and processing it for reuse.

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Created on Apr 21st 2022 05:38. Viewed 163 times.

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