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Upcycling of construction materials and products

Fasanmi, Olumide; Ferriz-Papi, Juan; Theodoridis, Theodoros

Authors

Olumide Fasanmi



Abstract

Urbanization and population growth are driving an increase in construction activities, leading to a rise in construction and demolition waste (CDW). The construction industry is responsible for 9 Gtpa of global waste, generated at various stages in the building lifecycle. To reduce environmental impacts, the industry must move away from a wasteful linear way of working and adopt a circular economy, where materials never become waste. The circular economy involves directly reusing or recycling materials and components. However, the market for construction materials and products is challenged by insufficient information, poor perception of secondary materials, and inconsistent information on quality. The
availability of traceable data can improve end-user confidence, increase public acceptance of secondary materials, and promote circularity. This paper identifies the data required to improve reusability and upcycling of construction materials and products at end-of-life. Starting with an awareness of the problem through a literature review of articles, documents, technical reports, and government guidelines, existing research gaps around this matter are identified, and a synthesis of required data at the end of the life of
products is presented. With this information, it is developed an initial proposal of a framework for decision-making processes at the end-of-service life for buildings and infrastructures to be applied in predemolition audits. This forms part of a bigger study that adopts the design science methodology, covering this way the first two stages. This paper's outcome will help identify the data required in conducting endof-life assessments for buildings, using pre-demolition audits, which will be useful in describing the reusability and recyclability aspects of construction assets. This could ultimately enable data-driven applications to support more accurate decision-making procedures for waste recovery in different scenarios in the construction industry.

Presentation Conference Type Conference Paper (published)
Conference Name 5th International Conference on Recycling and Reuse
Start Date Jul 5, 2024
End Date Jul 6, 2024
Acceptance Date Apr 5, 2024
Online Publication Date Dec 1, 2024
Publication Date Dec 1, 2024
Deposit Date Jan 12, 2025
Pages 37-43
Book Title 5th International Conference on Recycling and Reuse. Conference Proceedings
ISBN 978-625-00-7790-0
Keywords pre-demolition audit; upcycling; construction materials; construction product; design science