Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling

Construction-and-demolition-waste

Construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) primarily consist of debris that is collected during construction, renovation, and demolition of roads, bridges, and buildings, for example, materials such as:

Concrete
Wood
Masonry
Gypsum
Asphalt
Shingles
Metals
Plastics
Glass

C&D Waste, mainly heavy bulk materials, contains a mixture of mineral and non-mineral materials that can be quickly recovered, reused, and recycled.

After concrete, wood waste is the second-largest component of C&D debris, and it contributes approximately 25% of the recyclable building-related construction and demolition waste total.

There are a lot of opportunities and challenges to recycling construction and demolition waste into usable end products.

Everyone in the construction and demolition industry can contribute by reducing waste, using materials better, and collecting waste for recycling.

C&D recycling

Construction and demolition waste form one of the most significant waste streams. Growing environmental awareness and increasing landfill costs make recycling this waste a steady business opportunity.

Construction and demolition waste recycling process

The general purpose of C&D waste recycling is to process the input into valuable materials such as wood, RDF, paper, and ferrous and non-ferrous metals and minimize the waste fraction sent to landfills.

Technology for the separation and recovery of construction and demolition waste is well established, readily accessible, and in general inexpensive.

There are two groups of C&D recycling systems available, stationary and portable.

C&D recycling systems generally consist of:

Cranes for presorting
Feeders
Size reduction equipment
- Primary shredders
- Secondary shredders
Screening systems
- Trommel Screens
- Disc screens
- Anti-wrapping screens
Manual sorting conveyors
Air drum separators
Windsifters
Magnetic separators
Sorting robots

C&D recycling companies

C&D recycling companies produce valuable materials such as wood chips, aggregates, and metals.

For C&D recycling companies, concrete recycling is becoming an increasingly popular way to utilize aggregate left behind when demolished structures or roadways.

The most common type of C&D wood generated is dimensional lumber. Still, plywood, treated wood, and manufactured wood such as composite panels can come into a C&D recycling company.

Ferrous and non-ferrous metals can be sorted out from construction and demolition waste with a well-designed recovery process.