Urban mining concept in Croatian construction industry

Građevinska industrija jedan je od najvećih zagađivača s obzirom na količine otpada. Koncept urbanog rudarenja podrazumijeva smanjenje nastanka, ponovnu uporabu i recikliranje otpada nastalog antropogenim utjecajem. Osim pravilnog gospodarenja građevinskim otpadom i otpadom od rušenja potrebno je i prevenirati nastajanje otpada. To je moguće postići prelaskom na kružnu ekonomiju i analizom životnog ciklusa građevine. Kružna ekonomija temelji se na zatvorenom ciklusu putovanja materijala od primarne sirovine koja se reciklira ili ponovno upotrebljava do sekundarne sirovine koja se u 2. ciklusu koristi za proizvodnju novih proizvoda. Analiza životnog ciklusa proučava ekološki i ekonomski aspekt životnog vijeka građevine te joj je cilj pronaći optimum između dva parametra. Građevinski otpad i otpad od rušenja definira se kao otpad nastao građenjem, održavanjem, rekonstrukcijom ili uklanjanjem građevine. Na primjeru iz prakse analizirane su količine otpada za drvo, metal i opeku. Analizom količina otpada od rušenja pokazuje se da je reciklirano 85-100 % drveta, 71,43- 93,16 % metala i 60,41 % opeke. Postotci ukazuju na to da je ispunjen cilj Europske unije da se reciklira minimalno 70 % građevinskog otpada.The construction industry is one of the biggest polluters in terms of waste volumes. The concept of urban mining implies the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste generated by anthropogenic influence. In addition to the proper management of construction and demolition waste, it is also necessary to prevent the generation of waste. This can be achieved by applying circular economy principles and analyzing the life cycle of a building. The circular economy is based on a closed-loop cycle from the primary raw material that is recycled or reused to the secondary resource that is used in the 2nd cycle to produce new products. Life cycle analysis takes into consideration the ecological and economic aspects of a building's lifetime and aims to find the optimum between the two parameters. Construction and demolition waste is defined as waste generated by the construction, maintenance, reconstruction or demolition of a building. The case study presents analysis of waste volumes for wood, metals and brick. The analysis of the volumes of demolition waste shows that 85-100 % of wood, 71.43-93.16 % of metal and 60.41 % of brick were recycled. The percentages indicate that the European Union's goal of recycling a minimum of 70 % of construction waste has been achived