The Environmental Impact of Reusing Post-Earthquake Demolition Waste: İskenderun Case Study

Year 2024, Volume: 37 Issue: 3, 1042 - 1054, 01.09.2024

Ahmet Burak Koçak , Asena Soyluk , İdil Ayçam

https://doi.org/10.35378/gujs.1363134

Abstract

Producing recycled aggregate from construction and demolition waste generated by earthquakes and using it as raw material in concrete production would be effective for urgent waste management after disasters and to reduce the environmental impact of concrete production by decreasing resource use. In this study, the life cycle assessment (LCA) method was used to examine the environmental implications of concrete produced using recycled aggregates (RA) derived from construction and demolition waste (CDW) of buildings demolished after the earthquake that struck Iskenderun and was centered in Kahramanmaraş. In addition, the environmental consequences of an equal volume of concrete produced in the same location utilizing natural aggregates (NA) were assessed. For the LCA of these two types of concrete, openLCA software and the ReCiPe midpoint database were used. LCA was conducted considering terrestrial ecotoxicity, climate change, terrestrial acidification, photochemical oxidant formation, marine ecotoxicity, human toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, ozone depletion, particulate matter formation, marine eutrophication, and ionizing radiation impact factors. The results show that cement has the highest impact on the environment by far.

Keywords

Life cycle assessment, Environmental impact, Recycled aggregates, Recycled aggregate concrete, Natural aggregate concrete

References

• [1] https://iwaste.epa.gov/guidance/natural-disaster/fact-sheets/types-of-waste?id=soil-sediments. Access date: 25.03.2023
• [2] Lauritzen, E., “Environmental management in large construction projects”, Studies in Environmental Science, 60: 727–736, (1994).
• [3] Oikonomou, N., ''Recycled concrete aggregates'', Cement and Concrete Composites, 27(2): 315-318, (2005).
• [4] Da Silva, E., Torem, M., and Silva, F., ''Technological characterization and utilization of recycled aggregate in the fine fraction in substitution to the fine natural aggregate for concrete production'', Recycling and Sustainable Development, 12: 37-42, (2019).
• [5] Huang, W.L., Lin, D.H., Chang, N.B., and Lin, K.S., ''Recycling of construction and demolition waste via a mechanical sorting process'', Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 37: 23-37, (2002).
• [6] Marzouk, M. and Azab, S., ''Environmental and economic impact assessment of construction and demolition waste disposal using system dynamics'', Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 82: 41-49, (2014).
• [7] Reinhart, D.R. and McCreanor, P., ''Disaster Debris Management–Planning Tools'', US Environmental Protection Agency Region IV, Florida, US, (1999).
• [8] ''Türkiye Earthquakes Recovery and Reconstruction Assessment'', Strategy and Budget Office (SBO) of the Turkish Presidency, Ankara, Türkiye, (2023).
• [9] https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/deprem-hafriyati-yol-ve-kaldirim-yapiminda-kullanilacak-haber-1607576. Access date: 04.04.2023
• [10] Marinković, S. B., Ignjatović, I., and Radonjanin, V., ''Life-cycle assessment (LCA) of concrete with recycled aggregates (RAs)'', Handbook of Recycled Concrete and Demolition Waste 1 st ed., Pachego-Torgal, F., Tam V.W.Y., Labrincha, J.A., Ding, Y., de Brito, J.,Woodhead, Philadelphia, 569-604, (2013).
• [11] Yazdanbakhsh, A., Bank, L. C., Baez, T., and Wernick, I., ''Comparative LCA of concrete with natural and recycled coarse aggregate in the New York City area'', International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 23(6): 1163-1173, (2018).
• [12] Etxeberria, M., Vázquez, E., Marí, A., and Barra, M., ''Influence of amount of recycled coarse aggregates and production process on properties of recycled aggregate concrete'', Cement and Concrete Composites, 37(5): 735-742, (2007).
• [13] Marinković, S., Radonjanin, V., Malešev, M., and Ignjatović, I., ''Comparative environmental assessment of natural and recycled aggregate concrete, Waste Management'', 30(11): 2255-2264, (2010).
• [14] International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ''Environmental Management - Life Cycle Assessment - Principles and Framework'', ISO Standard, 14040, Geneva, Switzerland, (2006).
• [15] International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ''Environmental Management - Life Cycle Assessments - Requirements and Guidelines'', ISO Standard, 14044, Geneva, Switzerland, (2006).
• [16] Khasreen, M., Banfill, P. F., and Menzies, G., ''Life-Cycle Assessment and the Environmental Impact of Buildings: A Review'', Sustainability, 1(3): 674-701, (2009).
• [17] Pradhan, S., Tiwari, B. R., Kumar, S., and Barai, S. V., ''Comparative LCA of recycled and natural aggregate concrete using Particle Packing Method and conventional method of design mix'', Journal of Cleaner Production., 228: 679-691, (2019).
• [18] Mah, C. M., Fujiwara, T., and Ho, C. S., ''Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing toward eco-efficiency concrete waste management in Malaysia'', Journal of Cleaner Production, 172: 3415-3427, (2018).
• [19] Rosado, L. P., Vitale, P., Penteado, C., and Arena, U., ''Life cycle assessment of natural and mixed recycled aggregate production in Brazil'', Journal of Cleaner Production, 151: 634-642, (2017).
• [20] Dias, A. B., Pacheco, J. N, Silvestre, J. D., Martins, I. M., and De Brito, J., ''Environmental and Economic Life Cycle Assessment of Recycled Coarse Aggregates: A Portuguese Case Study'', Materials, 14(18): 5452, (2021).
• [21] Shi, X., Wang, Q., Qiu, C., Zhao, X., ''Recycling Construction and Demolition Waste as Sustainable Environmental Management in Post-Earthquake Reconstruction'', 4th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering, Chengdu, China, (2010).
• [22] Tsakalakis, K., Frangiskos, A., Karka, H., ''Recycled Aggregates-An Environmentally Friendly Management Athens Urban Area'', IX Balkan Mineral Processing Congress, İstanbul, Türkiye, (2001).
• [23] Morimoto, K., Misawa, T., Hironaka, T., ''A Study on the Reuse of Concrete Rubble Caused by the Earthquake as Recycled Concrete'', Okumura Gumi, (2014).
• [24] Ulucan, M., Alyamaç, K., ''A holistic assessment of the use of emerging recycled concrete aggregates after a destructive earthquake: Mechanical, economic and environmental'', Waste Management, 146: 53-65, (2022).
• [25] Faleschini, F., Zanini, M., Pellegrino, C., ''Environmental impacts of recycled aggregate concrete'', Italian Concrete Days-Evolution and Sustainability of Concrete Structures, Rome, Italy, (2016).
• [26] Kumbhar, S. A., Gupta, A., and Desai, D. B., ''Recycling and Reuse of Construction and Demolition Waste for Sustainable Development'', International Journal of Sustainable Development, 6(7): 83-92, (2013).
• [27] Silva, A. L. and Nunes, A. O., ''How important is the LCA software tool you choose? Comparative results from GaBi, openLCA, SimaPro and Umberto'', International Conference of Life Cycle Assessment in Latin America, (2017).
• [28] Musbah, M., Allam, A. M., Saleh, H., and Ateeg, I., ''Effects of Superplasticizing Admixtures on the Compressive Strength of Concrete'', Universal Journal of Engineering Science, 7(2): 39-45, (2019).
• [29] Supawanich, P., Malakul, P., and Gani, R., ''Life Cycle Assessment Studies of Chemical and Biochemical Processes through the new LCSoft Software-tool'', Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, 37: 2549-2554, (2015).
• [30] https://www.rivm.nl/en/life-cycle-assessment-lca/recipe. Access date: 28.04.2023
• [31] ''Olası Yıkıcı Bir İstanbul Depreminde Oluşabilecek Enkaza Dair Yönetim Planı'', İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Report, İstanbul, Türkiye, (2023).
• [32] Lu, W., Yuan, L., and Xue, F., ''Investigating the bulk density of construction waste: A big data-driven approach'', Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 169: 105480, (2021).
• [33] Neville, A. M., Properties of Concrete 4th Edition, Essex, (1995).
• [34] https://fabo.com.tr/en/what-is-a-mobile-crusher. Access date: 17.03.2023
• [35] Faqiri, A., Srivastav, V., and Pandey, R. K., ''Study of The Effect of Recycling Method on The RCA in Structural Concrete Based on Different Properties'', International Journal Civil Engineering and Technology, 8(6): 820-833, (2017).
• [36] https://www.metso.com/portfolio/lokotrack-urban-series. Access date: 05.05.2023
• [37] https://www.cat.com/en_US/products/new/equipment/excavators.html. Access date: 11.03.2023
• [38] Wang, Y., Liu, J., Zhu, P., Liu, H., Wu, C., and Zhao, J., ''Investigation of Adhered Mortar Content on Recycled Aggregate Using Image Analysis Method'', Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 33(9): 04021225, (2021).
• [39] Verian, K. P., Ashraf, W., and Cao, Y., ''Properties of recycled concrete aggregate and their influence in new concrete production'', Resource, Conservation and Recycling, 133: 30-49, (2018).
• [40] Rosenbaum, R., Hauschild, M.Z., Boulay, A., Fantke, P., Laurent, A., Nunez, M., Vieira, M., ''Life Cycle Impact Assessment'', Life Cycle Assessment: Theory and Practice 1 st ed., Hauschild, M.Z., Olsen, S.I, Rosenbaum, R.K., Springer, Berlin, 167-270, (2018).
• [41] Braunschweig, A., ''Recycled Concrete: Environmentally superior to virgin concrete?'', XVI European Ready Mixed Concrete Organization Congress, Verona, Italy, (2012).
• [42] Ding, T., Xiao, J., and. Tam, Y., ''A closed-loop life cycle assessment of recycled aggregate concrete utilization in China'', Waste Management., 56: 367-375, (2016).
• [43] Estanqueiro, B., Silvestre, J., De Brito, J., and Pinheiro, M., ''Environmental life cycle assessment of coarse natural and recycled aggregates for concrete'', European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, 22(4): 429-2249, (2018).