Recycling of Waste in Construction Sites - Research Paper Example

Recycling in a construction site Recycling In Construction Sites Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are the three R’s put forward by environmentalists. Reduction means the reduction of exploitation of natural resources whereas reuse refers to the using of same product repeatedly as much as possible. Nature is one of the most prominent waste producers; however, it has the ability to recycle the entire wastes produced by it. In other words, natural activities will never result in waste production. The number one culprit in the case of waste accumulation is human itself. The huge developments in science and technology resulted in the evolutions of products, which are non-degradable. For example, plastic is one material, which is extremely useful. At the same time, it is difficult to dispose plastic properly after the use. Almost the entire industries are producing wastes in one way or another. Construction industry is one of the prominent industries in waste production. Waste management or recycling of waste in construction sites is extremely difficult. Recycling processes are used extensively in construction sites as the waste management mechanism. “Recycling involves the collection of used and discarded materials processing these materials and making them into new products. It reduces the amount of waste that is thrown into the community dustbins thereby making the environment cleaner and the air fresher”(Recycling and Reuse, n.d.).This paper analyses the waste management or recycling mechanisms in construction sites. Waste generated at a construction site can be recycled in two ways. One option is to separate recyclables by material, such as cardboard, metal, clean wood, etc., into individual bins. Separating recyclables allows you to take advantage of lower dumping fees. The second option is to put recyclable materials into one bin and take it to a recycling facility that specializes in sorting materials (Construction site recycling, 2012, p.2). Separation or segregation of the wastes generated in the construction sites is the key in waste management mechanisms in construction sites. It is not an easy task. Only the skilled workers can segregate usable and unusable wastes. “Packaging, new material scraps and old materials and debris all constitute potentially recoverable materials. In renovation, appliances, masonry materials, doors and windows are recyclable. 8,000 lbs of waste are typically thrown into the landfill during the construction of a 2,000 square foot home” (Construction Waste Recycling, 2012). A substantial portion of the wastes generated in the construction sites are used for the land filling operations. It should be noted that construction is a process, which involves lot of digging and land removal activities. Once the pillars and the basements are constructed, the surrounding lands of the constructions site may have lot of uneven lands. Waste generated from the construction sites are used to fill this land and make it even with the surrounding lands. However, it is impossible to use all the wastes generated by the construction sites for the filling purposes. There will be certain reusable wastes. Such wastes will always segregated and sold to the third parties. Separation of the waste is an important aspect of waste management in construction sites. Separation of the waste is normally done with the following criteria; Wastes necessary for the land filling purposes, waste which can be reusable and waste which should be recycled. Unused concrete is difficult to recycle. These wastes are usually used for the land filling purposes along with the extra soil wasted generated during the construction process. However, smaller pieces of concrete can be used as gravel for new construction projects. However, it is difficult to crush bigger concrete pieces and make gravels. Bigger concrete blocks demolished from construction sites are normally used in the making of roads in certain countries. Gypsum is another prominent waste generated in the construction sites. Since gypsum contains lot of harmful chemicals, it is necessary to recycle it properly. If left unnoticed, gypsum can cause lot of environmental problems. In recent years, the concept of recycling gypsum drywall at the construction site has been proposed. In this approach, scrap drywall from new construction is separated and processed using a mobile grinder and then size-reduced material is land applied (prior to placement of sod) as a soil amendment or a plant nutrient. This approach may be feasible when the soils and grass species show a benefit from the application of gypsum. This recycling technique offers a potential economic benefit when the cost to process and land apply the ground drywall at the construction site is less than the cost to store, haul and dispose of the drywall (Recycling Gypsum Drywall at the Construction Site, 2012). Steel is another major waste generated in construction sites. One of the major advantages of steel waste is the possibility of recycling and reusing it. “All steel products, including steel framing and steel roofing, contain recycled steel. Steel framing contains at least minimum of 25 percent recycled steel and is continually and completely recyclable” (Recycling Construction Materials, 2011). Perhaps steel is the most valuable waste produced from construction sites. So, construction people always give more importance to the handling of steel waste generated in construction sites. In fact, the profit and loss of construction works strongly depends on the ability of the construction people in producing less steel scrap materials. Steel is the most demanded construction waste. “When these steel products have outlived their current intended use, they can be recycled into new steel to be used for any variety of new products. Sections of steel framing may have once been a part of an automobile, refrigerator or soup can” (Recycling Construction Materials, 2011). The general principles and the strategies of recycling in every industry are almost the same. It should be noted that construction industry produces lot of recyclable wastes. It is difficult for the construction people to recycle all the wastes in the construction sites itself. A bulk of the waste produced in the construction sites are normally collected by the middle man who will send it to the recycling plants. Construction people usually establish agreements with some third parties to remove the wastes from the construction sites. The most common materials are concrete, wood, drywall, asphalt shingles, asphalt pavement, metal and cardboard. These materials typically make up 70 to 95 percent of the discarded material at a residential or commercial site. They are often discarded but are actually valuable commodities that can be recycled into new products or used in many new ways. When perceived as waste, disposal of C&D materials is often viewed as simply part of the cost of doing business, and recycling and reusing these materials are sometimes overlooked as management options. Recycling can benefit a construction business’s bottom line, and it benefits the environment. Current estimates show that if all concrete and asphalt pavement generated annually in the United States were recycled, it would save the energy equivalent of 1 billion gallons of gasoline or the removal of more than 1 million cars from the road (Cochran, 2012) From the above statistics, it is evident that waste reduction is as important as waste recycling. It should be noted that majority of the waste generated in the construction sites are the outcomes of physical or chemical processes. All physical and chemical processes need some kind of energy. When the products generated after the physical or chemical processes became useless, a huge amount of energy is wasted in the non-productive sector. The world is already facing severe energy problems. Under such circumstances, it is important to spend energy as much as less possible. For example, production of concrete requires the functioning of so many concrete mixing units. All the concrete mixing units need oil energy for its functioning. When the production of concrete exceeds more than what is required, a substantial portion of energy is wasted. If possible, it is better to recycle the entire waste in the construction site itself. Onsite recycling of waste may reduce the transportation and loading charges considerably. Thus, onsite recycling of wastes may bring economic benefits to the construction people. Onsite waste recycling helps the construction company to reduce the construction costs considerably. The following table provides a rough idea about how construction waste materials are recycled and common markets for those materials. (Cochran, 2012) It is evident from the above table that majority of the wastes generated in construction sites are useful in one way or another. The important thing is how the construction people manage this waste in a useful manner. Conclusions Recycling of construction waste is a difficult task because of the variety of wastes produced. Some of the wastes produced from the construction sites are reusable whereas other are unusable. Segregation of the wastes based on the usability is the first step in handling or recycling construction wastes. Unusable construction wastes are normally used for land filling purposes. On the other hand usable construction wastes are recycled both onsite and offsite, depending on the nature of the waste and the complexities involved in the recycle mechanisms. Recycling of industrial waste brings revenue to the construction contractor. Moreover, such activities will prevent the environment from destruction. References 1. Cochran, K. (2012). Recycling Construction Materials: An Important Part of the Construction Process Retrieved from http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com/topics/law/construction-regulations/recycling-construction-materials-important-part-construction 2. Construction Waste Recycling (2012). Retrieved from http://constructionwaste.sustainablesources.com/ 3. Construction site recycling, (2012) http://www.recycleworks.org/pdf/CD_office_guide.pdf 4. Recycling and Reuse. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/solwaste/recycle.htm 5. Recycling Gypsum Drywall at the Construction Site, (2012) Retrieved from http://www.drywallrecycling.org/consite.html 6. Recycling Construction Materials, (2011) Retrieved from http://www.recycle-steel.org/Steel%20Markets/Construction.aspx Read More