European experiences in recycling and reuse of waste concrete materials

Recycling of construction and demolition (C&D) waste and reuse of recycled materials in the construction sector provide a sustainable solution that saves land space, reduces the consumption of natural resources, decreases the transportation cost and protects the environment. Waste concrete amounts to a very large percent in the generated C&D waste in many countries. Waste concrete is a relatively good material and constitutes a valuable resource for various products. Instead of landfilling it, many European countries aim at recycling this material. In well developed recycling areas, the recycling rates are more than 90%. Recycling of waste concrete into recycled aggregates is mostly performed. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the recycling of waste concrete and the use of recycled aggregates in some well developed areas in Europe, focusing on the processing technology for recycled aggregates, the properties of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) and mixed recycled aggregates (MRA), the utilization of recycled aggregates in producing new concrete and other products, the use of recycled aggregates in engineering practice and the experiences learned from these applications. In addition, the provisions for recycled aggregates in the current European Standard EN 206: 2013 + A1: 2016 are also reviewed. The objective of this paper is to increase the recycling rates and improve the quality of recycling of waste concrete.status: publishe