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For sustainability proponents in the UK, cement has become something of a sticky issue. The country recycles nearly a quarter of Europe’s cement waste – a respectable figure that puts the UK at lead of Europe’s cement-recycling efforts. But UK sustainability experts asserted last week that these efforts are not enough. The UK Green Building Council (GBC) endorsed a “zero landfill” target for concrete waste while encouraging continued attention to the bigger picture of sustainable construction measures.
According to a BusinessGreen.com report, the GBC initiated the concrete recycling target in response to a report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI). This report underscored several noteworthy figures: each year, Europe, the U.S., and Japan alone create a whopping 900 million tons of construction and demolition waste, 20 to 80 percent of which is concrete. While the UK recycles 22 percent of that concrete, the Netherlands 21 percent, Belgium 16 percent, and Switzerland 9 percent, a lot of concrete waste still ends up in landfills. More must be done, the CSI believes.
The CSI has recommended that governments worldwide develop incentives and legislation in order to increase cement recycling. Among the CSI’s suggestions were the creation of green building initiatives, usage targets for recycled concrete (in construction of roads and buildings), and waste data collection protocol for the construction industry.
While the GBC reportedly welcomed the CSI report and cement recycling initiatives, it also warned that, to remain sustainable, green building standards consider all factors – for example, water and other resource usage and the role of cement in the insulating of buildings (which reduces buildings’ heat-related energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions). The GBC emphasized that cement recycling efforts may be, well, cemented, once experts get a handle on reducing emissions in its production and usage.
The GBC cement recycling initiative’s second phase is expected to begin within the next 18 months.
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