Dierks, Christian ; Hagedorn, Tabea ; Mack, Theresa ; Zeller, Vanessa (2024)
Consequential life cycle assessment of demolition waste management in Germany.
In: Frontiers in Sustainability, 2024, 5
doi: 10.26083/tuprints-00027830
Artikel, Zweitveröffentlichung, Verlagsversion
 | Es ist eine neuere Version dieses Eintrags verfügbar. |
Kurzbeschreibung (Abstract)
Context: Bulk mineral waste materials such as construction and demolition waste are Germany’s largest waste stream. Despite the availability of high-quality recycling pathways such as road base layers, waste concrete is predominantly recycled into lower-quality recycling pathways like earthworks or unbound road construction. This is due to low demand for recycled aggregates in road base layers and frost protection layers, especially in public procurement.
Purpose: This study assesses the environmental consequences of increasing high-quality recycling of waste concrete in the near future to provide decision support for public procurement in Germany. The focus lies on climate change due to its importance for decision-makers. However, 17 other impact categories were assessed to avoid problem shifting.
Methods: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied with background data from ecoinvent 3.9.1. Impact assessment was conducted at midpoint level using IPCC 2021 and ReCiPe Midpoint (H). Foreground data were taken from literature and expert interviews. In line with the goal of this LCA, a consequential modeling approach was followed to account for changes in the material flow system. Substitution creates a cascade effect previously omitted in consequential LCA studies, in which lower quality recycling materials replace higher quality recycling materials in their respective utilization pathways.
Results and discussion: Increasing the high-quality recycling of waste concrete into road base layers causes a reduction in environmental impacts for all 18 impact categories, as it replaces natural aggregate and avoids backfilling of mixed mineral waste and excavated earth through substitution effects. Transport distances and ferrous metal recovery were identified as hot spots. Sensitivity analyses show that only transport is a significant issue.
Conclusion: Increasing the high-quality recycling of waste concrete in Germany is recommended in terms of environmental impacts. Lower-quality recycling is environmentally feasible only in cases where the avoided transport distances for natural aggregates and backfilling are significantly lower than the additional transport distances for high-quality recycling.
| Typ des Eintrags: | Artikel |
|---|---|
| Erschienen: | 2024 |
| Autor(en): | Dierks, Christian ; Hagedorn, Tabea ; Mack, Theresa ; Zeller, Vanessa |
| Art des Eintrags: | Zweitveröffentlichung |
| Titel: | Consequential life cycle assessment of demolition waste management in Germany |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Publikationsjahr: | 16 September 2024 |
| Ort: | Darmstadt |
| Publikationsdatum der Erstveröffentlichung: | 3 Juli 2024 |
| Ort der Erstveröffentlichung: | Lausanne |
| Verlag: | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| Titel der Zeitschrift, Zeitung oder Schriftenreihe: | Frontiers in Sustainability |
| Jahrgang/Volume einer Zeitschrift: | 5 |
| Kollation: | 11 Seiten |
| DOI: | 10.26083/tuprints-00027830 |
| URL / URN: | https://tuprints.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/27830 |
| Zugehörige Links: | |
| Herkunft: | Zweitveröffentlichung DeepGreen |
| Kurzbeschreibung (Abstract): | Context: Bulk mineral waste materials such as construction and demolition waste are Germany’s largest waste stream. Despite the availability of high-quality recycling pathways such as road base layers, waste concrete is predominantly recycled into lower-quality recycling pathways like earthworks or unbound road construction. This is due to low demand for recycled aggregates in road base layers and frost protection layers, especially in public procurement. Purpose: This study assesses the environmental consequences of increasing high-quality recycling of waste concrete in the near future to provide decision support for public procurement in Germany. The focus lies on climate change due to its importance for decision-makers. However, 17 other impact categories were assessed to avoid problem shifting. Methods: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied with background data from ecoinvent 3.9.1. Impact assessment was conducted at midpoint level using IPCC 2021 and ReCiPe Midpoint (H). Foreground data were taken from literature and expert interviews. In line with the goal of this LCA, a consequential modeling approach was followed to account for changes in the material flow system. Substitution creates a cascade effect previously omitted in consequential LCA studies, in which lower quality recycling materials replace higher quality recycling materials in their respective utilization pathways. Results and discussion: Increasing the high-quality recycling of waste concrete into road base layers causes a reduction in environmental impacts for all 18 impact categories, as it replaces natural aggregate and avoids backfilling of mixed mineral waste and excavated earth through substitution effects. Transport distances and ferrous metal recovery were identified as hot spots. Sensitivity analyses show that only transport is a significant issue. Conclusion: Increasing the high-quality recycling of waste concrete in Germany is recommended in terms of environmental impacts. Lower-quality recycling is environmentally feasible only in cases where the avoided transport distances for natural aggregates and backfilling are significantly lower than the additional transport distances for high-quality recycling. |
| Freie Schlagworte: | life cycle assessment, consequential LCA, mineral waste, construction and demolition waste, recycled aggregate |
| ID-Nummer: | Artikel-ID: 1417637 |
| Status: | Verlagsversion |
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:tuda-tuprints-278306 |
| Zusätzliche Informationen: | Sec. Circular Economy |
| Sachgruppe der Dewey Dezimalklassifikatin (DDC): | 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 333.7 Natürliche Ressourcen, Energie und Umwelt 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 624 Ingenieurbau und Umwelttechnik |
| Fachbereich(e)/-gebiet(e): | 13 Fachbereich Bau- und Umweltingenieurwissenschaften 13 Fachbereich Bau- und Umweltingenieurwissenschaften > Institut IWAR - Wasser- und Abfalltechnik, Umwelt- und Raumplanung 13 Fachbereich Bau- und Umweltingenieurwissenschaften > Institut IWAR - Wasser- und Abfalltechnik, Umwelt- und Raumplanung > Fachgebiet Stoffstrommanagement und Ressourcenwirtschaft |
| Hinterlegungsdatum: | 16 Sep 2024 11:32 |
| Letzte Änderung: | 17 Sep 2024 05:48 |
| PPN: | |
| Export: | |
| Suche nach Titel in: | TUfind oder in Google |
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