Estimating the environmental costs and benefits of demolition waste using life cycle assessment and willingness-to-pay: A case study in Shenzhen
Introduction
Construction and demolition waste (CDW) has a significant environmental impact which requires immediate action. In the European Union, 3000 million tonnes of waste are produced every year, of which 25%–30% is generated by the construction industry (Bravo et al., 2015). Similarly, in the United States, 530 million tonnes of construction and demolition debris were generated in 2013 (US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2013). Construction activities consume 25% of the virgin wood and 40% of the raw stone, gravel, and sand which are used globally every year (Kulatugna et al., 2006, Wu and Low, 2011). In addition to resource depletion, CDW has a significant impact on land degradation, global warming, and ozone depletion (Coelho and de Brito, 2012). For example, 14 million tonnes of waste are landfilled each year in Australia, 44% of which comes from construction activities (Lu and Tam, 2013). According to Bhada-Tata and Hoornweg (2016), disposal is a significant source of carbon emissions and landfill is a significant source of methane, both of which contribute to global warming.
Because of the negative impact of CDW on the environment, many studies have investigated its environmental impact. For example, in a Spanish case study, Oritz et al. (2010) used the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to evaluate the environmental impact of construction waste. Similarly, Coelho and de Brito (2012) investigated the environmental impact of buildings by using five waste management options—complete demolition, selective demolition, deconstruction of non-structural elements, full deconstruction and recycling, as well as full deconstruction and partial recycling. Selective demolition, which is the reverse of the construction process, has been introduced for easy recycling and reuse (Lu et al., 2009, Coelho and de Brito, 2013). The method can help reduce the overall demolition cost by reducing disposal charges (Lu et al., 2009). Many studies treat CDW in a similar way because both sources of waste are generated from the construction industry. However, it should be noted that the amount of demolition waste is significantly higher than the amount of construction waste. According to the US EPA (2013), demolition activities cause more than 90% of total CDW. As such, demolition waste should have a higher priority than construction waste. It should be noted that the exact contribution of demolition activities to CDW may vary depending on country-specific characteristics and site conditions. For example, demolition activities, which contribute to 74% of annual CDW in China, only contribute to 36% of annual CDW in Norway (Statistics Norway, 2017, Lu et al., 2017). In addition, the composition of construction waste and demolition waste varies significantly, indicating that waste management strategies developed for managing construction waste may be unsuitable for demolition waste management. According to Zhao and Rotter (2008), the composition of construction waste in China includes concrete, sand, brick, and stone, while the most significant components in demolition waste are brick and tile, followed by concrete. Because such composition differs significantly, it is useful to separate the evaluation process of the environmental impact of CDW. Moreover, many scholars use case studies to investigate the environmental impact of construction and demolition activities (Wu et al., 2015, Wu et al., 2016). It should be noted that case studies can be useful to evaluate the environmental impact associated with specific buildings or processes; however, case studies rely on data from individual construction and demolition activities such as the construction of a single family home (Cuéllar-Franca and Azapagic, 2012) and a commercial building (Zhang et al., 2013). Thus, case studies may offer limited guidance and reference for local governments which rely on local and regional analysis to establish CDW policies, such as charging appropriate fees for mitigating CDW's environmental impact.
Consequently, the current study aims to 1) investigate the environmental impact of demolition waste using the LCA approach; 2) compare the environmental costs and benefits of demolition waste from two different treatment pathways—recycling and landfill—using the willingness-to-pay (WTP) approach; and 3) investigate appropriate levels of fees and charges to mitigate the environmental impact of demolition waste. The results will be useful for regulatory authorities to understand the environmental costs and benefits of demolition waste and establish relevant strategies to reduce demolition waste. It should be noted that this study focuses on ordinary demolition waste management scenarios and excludes scenarios which include the occurrence of natural hazards, such as seismic hazard assessment and post-quake recovery (Jun et al., 2012, Faleschini et al., 2017, Zanini et al., 2017).
Section snippets
The environmental impact of CDW
CDW is usually defined as the solid waste which arises from construction, renovation, and demolition activities (Lu et al., 2011). Shenzhen is a rapidly developing megacity in China. According to Wu et al. (2016a), approximately 14 million tonnes of demolition waste have been generated annually in Shenzhen since 2010; moreover, because of the rapid urban development, CDW generation is expected to increase in the future. Wu et al. (2016b) used a geographic information system (GIS) to investigate
Research method
This study uses the LCA approach. The system boundaries, functional unit, and other estimation assumptions are explained in the following subsections.
Weights of environmental impact categories
Table 5 shows the demographic information of all respondents. According to Burns and Bush (2010), the sample size, N, can be calculated using the following equation:where z refers to the standard error with a confidence level of 95%; e refers to the accepted error, which is 5% in this study; and p refers to the estimated variance of the population and is 0.5 if the survey contains both continuous and categorical variables. Based on the above calculation, a sample size of 385 is
Discussion
Recycling demolition waste can have environmental benefits. In order to obtain the comparative benefits of recycling, it is useful to compare the environmental benefits with traditional landfill practices.
Two assumptions are made when calculating the environmental cost of landfilling. The first is related to the diesel consumption associated with landfill activities. This study selects one landfill site in Shenzhen and uses the daily landfill volume and the daily diesel consumption to calculate
Conclusions
Managing demolition waste is important for sustainable urban development. Because of the rapid urban development of China, a significant amount of demolition waste is generated each year. As such, investing in waste management activities, such as recycling and reusing, seems imperative. This study employs LCA and WTP approaches to investigate the environmental impact of recycling and direct landfill activities, thereby providing guidance for policy improvements such as the establishment of
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council's Discovery Early Career Researcher Award funding scheme (project DE170101502).
References (80)
- et al.
Durability of recycled aggregate concrete designed with equivalent mortar volume method
Cem. Concr. Compos.
(2009) - et al.
Utilization of crushed clay brick in concrete industry
Alexandria Eng. J.
(2014) Life cycle buildings, demolition and recycling potential: a case study in Turin, Italy
Build. Environ.
(2009)- et al.
Resources and waste management in Turin (Italy): the role of recycled aggregates in the sustainable supply mix
J. Clean. Prod.
(2010) - et al.
Mechanical performance of concrete made with aggregates from construction and demolition waste recycling plants
J. Clean. Prod.
(2015) Life cycle assessment of steel production in Poland: a case study
J. Clean. Prod.
(2013)- et al.
Influence of construction and demolition waste management on the environmental impact of buildings
Waste Manag.
(2012) - et al.
Economic viability analysis of a construction and demolition waste recycling plant in Portugal–part I: location, materials, technology and economic analysis
J. Clean. Prod.
(2013) - et al.
Environmental impacts of the UK residential sector: life cycle assessment of houses
Build. Environ.
(2012) - et al.
Sustainable management and supply of natural and recycled aggregates in a medium-size integrated plant
Waste Manag.
(2016)
Generation and management of construction and demolition waste in Greece—an existing challenge
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
Life cycle assessment of energy from solid waste—part 1: general methodology and results
J. Clean. Prod.
Development of a depletion indicator for natural resources used in concrete
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
Waste management plants and technology for recycling construction and demolition (C&D) waste: state-of-the-art and future challenges
An exploratory study of environmental attitudes and the willingness to pay for environmental certification in Mexico
J. Bus. Res.
The energy benefit of stainless steel recycling
Energy Policy
Environmental management of construction and demolition waste in Kuwait
Waste Manag.
Recycling and reuse of waste concrete in China: Part I. Material behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
Construction waste management policies and their effectiveness in Hong Kong: a longitudinal review
Renew. Sustain. energy Rev.
An empirical investigation of construction and demolition waste generate rates in Shenzhen city, South China
Waste Manag.
Evaluation of investments in recycling centres for construction and demolition wastes in Brazilian municipalities
Waste Manag.
On-site sorting of construction and demolition waste in Hong Kong
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
Physical–chemical and mineralogical characterization of fine aggregates from construction and demolition waste recycling plants
J. Clean. Prod.
Spanish model for quantification and management of construction waste
Waste Manag.
Delays in construction projects: the case of Jordan
Int. J. Proj. Manag.
A review on the viable technology for construction waste recycling
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
Removal of cement mortar remains from recycled aggregate using pre-soaking approaches
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
Achieving transparency in carbon labelling for construction materials–Lessons from current assessment standards and carbon labels
Environ. Sci. Policy
The contribution of ISO 14067 to the evolution of global greenhouse gas standards—a review
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
A decade review of the credits obtained by LEED v2. 2 certified green building projects
Build. Environ.
Demolition waste generation and recycling potentials in a rapidly developing flagship megacity of South China: prospective scenarios and implications
Constr. Build. Mater.
An innovative approach to managing demolition waste via GIS (geographic information system): a case study in Shenzhen city, China
J. Clean. Prod.
Decontamination of granular wastes by mining separation techniques
J. Clean. Prod.
Carbon emission coefficient measurement of the coal-to-power energy chain in China
Appl. Energy
Key indicators for assessing the effectiveness of waste management in construction projects
Ecol. Indic.
A system dynamics model for determining the waste disposal charging fee in construction
Eur. J. Oper. Res.
A model for cost-benefit analysis of construction and demolition waste management throughout the waste chain
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
BEPAS – a life cycle building environmental performance assessment model
Build. Environ.
Life cycle assessment of the air emissions during building construction process: a case study in Hong Kong
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
Evaluation of the economic feasibility for the recycling of construction and demolition waste in China – the case of Chongqing
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
Cited by (95)
Understanding the perceptions of stakeholders on selective demolition
2024, Journal of Building EngineeringDiscrepancies in life cycle assessment applied to concrete waste recycling: A structured review
2024, Journal of Cleaner ProductionUtilization of antimony tailings in fiber-reinforced 3D printed concrete: A sustainable approach for construction materials
2023, Construction and Building MaterialsMechanical properties prediction of lightweight coal gangue shotcrete
2023, Journal of Building EngineeringAn experimental study on the influence of waste rubber particles on the compressive, flexural and impact properties of 3D printable sustainable cementitious composites
2023, Case Studies in Construction Materials