Construction waste

rdf:langString Construction waste

rdf:langString Construction waste or debris is any kind of debris from the construction process. Different government agencies have clear definitions. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA defines construction and demolition materials as “debris generated during the construction, renovation and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges.” Additionally, the EPA has categorized Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste into three categories: non-dangerous, hazardous, and semi-hazardous. Construction and demolition materials are created during the process of creating a new building or structure or when renovating or demolishing an existing structure. These materials are usually heavy materials used in large volumes in modern construction, such as concrete, steel, wood, asphalt and gypsum. There is also waste generated in the form of paper during the construction phase in order for interested parties to share various types of information. Of total waste in the United States, 90% comes from the demolition of structures, while waste generated during construction accounts for less than 10%. Construction waste frequently includes small amount of hazardous materials that require they be disposed of differently than most construction waste, such as fluorescent lights, batteries, and other electrical equipment. When these waste products are created, they are dealt with by exporting to a landfill, recycling materials for new use, waste incineration, or direct reuse on site, through integration into construction or as fill dirt. In dealing with construction and demolition waste products, it is often hard to recycle and repurpose because of the cost of processing. Businesses recycling materials must compete with often the low cost of landfills and new construction commodities. Data provided by 24 states reported that solid waste from construction and demolition (C&D) accounts for 23% of total waste in the U.S. This is almost a quarter of the total solid waste produced by the United States, and it does not include the water polluted during construction and during the time a lot of this waste spends in a landfill leaching toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment. Results of a recent questionnaire demonstrate that although 95.71% of construction projects indicate that construction waste is problematic, only 57.14% of those companies collect any relevant data.