Construction waste: The importance of recycling in construction

Phil Sutton, founder of Econpro, discusses the waste generated by the construction industry. Construction waste accounts for approximately a third of all waste generated in the EU, including materials such as concrete, plastic, metals, and glass. The sector is the largest consumer of materials in the UK and produced an estimated 60 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste (CDW) in 2016. The volume of CDW generated, combined with separation and recovery technology that is well-developed, inexpensive, and accessible, means there is huge scope for the recycling of these materials. Currently, an impressive 90% of CDW is recovered in the UK with heavy materials such as concrete, brick and asphalt making up the majority. These are most commonly downcycled to produce aggregates for use in roads. However, almost 5 million tonnes of waste is sent to landfill, the UK’s second most used waste treatment taking nearly a quarter of all our waste in 2016.