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CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION (C&D) WASTE RECYCLING IN NEW DELHI

Conference Paper · February 2014

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1022.9922

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 The Fourth International
Fib Congress 2014, Mumbai
February 10 – February 14, 2014

CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION (C&D) WASTE

RECYCLING IN NEW DELHI

Shishir Bansal
Superintending Engineer,Public Works Department, New Delhi, Delhi 110087, India
S K Singh
Head, Environmental Engineering Department, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
Jose Kurian
President,Indian Concrete Institute, Adyar Marg, Chennai, India

Abstract
With the fast development of society on all the fronts, lots of construction activities are seen
everywhere. Simultaneously, the demolition of existing outlived structures is going hand in hand. Both
the activities generate lot of waste and its disposal is a challenging job for the Engineers. Thus, the
Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste is a major waste stream, the quantum of which is increasing
as a result of increasing construction, maintenance, retrofitting and demolition activities in India. Even
though there is high potential for large- scale reusing as well as recycling of this waste material,
production of recycled aggregates with properties comparable to natural aggregate, recovered from
C& D waste is currently at very low level in India. There is a huge demand for natural aggregates in
the construction sector with a significant gap in its demand and supply, which can certainly be reduced
to an extent by recycling construction and demolition waste. Since the concept of appropriate
management of C& D waste is new in this country, information and education is necessary for public
support as well as to change the mindset and attitude of all stake holders.

Keywords: Construction &Demolition,Recycling, Sustainability, Waste management

1 Introduction
With the development of society on all the fronts, lot of construction activities are seen everywhere.
Mega construction activities are going on everywhere, rather increasing exponentially. Also, the
demolition of existing structures, which have outlived its service life,is going on simultaneously. It is
not essential that the structures need to be demolished only after their service life span is over, but also
due to ongoing trend of reconstruction of even healthy structures just for creating more space in order
to meet the present requirement. When the structures were created long time back, the population was
less and hence the need of dwelling units was also not much. Therefore lavish sized structures were
created with more in area, but lesser in numbers. Now, need is to create more number of units in that
much area and therefore the trend is for reconstructing the house with vertical expansion and creating
more dwelling units. All such activities are generating huge amount of waste, called the Construction
and Demolition waste. Disposal of such debris in a safe environment is a big challenge for the
builders, developers and owners.
On one hand the disposal of debris is a challenge, on the other hand there is an acute shortage of
naturally available aggregates for construction of buildings. Reduction of this demand in a small way
is possible with the reusing or recycling of construction and demolition waste generated from the
construction activities. Hence, the construction sector must accept the use of C& D waste wherever
feasible. This will lead to a saving in virgin raw material and consequent reduction in waste disposal.

2 Promotion of C&D waste management

Since the concept of C& D waste management is new, it is essentially required to spread the education
and information in order to gain the public support. The present mindset of public and their attitude
towards the waste generated from construction and demolition sites is required to be changed which is
possible only with the education in this field. It is required to sensitisenot only the Engineers, but all
stakeholders including regulatory authorities in construction industry. One must understand the reuse
potential of C& D waste, technical aspects in the use of recycled concrete aggregates, best practices in
implementation and enforcement for achieving the aim with an ultimate motive of Environmental
sustainability.
Recycling cost is influenced by transportation distance and amount of waste concrete to be
recycled. CO2 emission is influenced by transportation distance. It is important to minimize C&D
waste generation and maximize reuse/recycling as the construction industry is consumer of
tremendous amount of natural resources and energy as well as emitter of GHGs. Establishment of
effective strategies and enactment of laws and regulations is essential to achieve this. In addition,
provision for some incentives to users of the recycled products deems to be necessary to promote the
use. It is essential to assess the life-cycle as it provides quantitative tool to assess environmental
impact of C&D waste reuse/recycling.

3 Reusing and Recycling of C&D Waste

3.1 Reusing of Construction and Demolition waste
Reusing of construction and Demolition waste is different from Recycling. It does not require any
further processing to convert into a useful product. The items which are usable directly are screened
out from the debris and put into the intended use without further processing or further energy input
for conversion into the useful product. Thus reusing a waste item is a better service to the environment
and the environment is saved from impacts due to recycling activities. For example, full bricks can be
screened out of the demolition debris and used as it is for building a partition walls. Otherwise same
would have been converted into smaller pieces for using it as an aggregate or brick bats for plinth
protection etc.
Since the reusing of C&D waste is always more advantageous, it is essential that to have more
and more reusable materials in debris. This is possible, if sufficient precautions are taken while a
building is demolished. There should be an effective deconstruction plan instead of just converting the
standing structure into debris within minutes. Useful products like doors and windows, bricks,
reinforcement, from RCC components, structural steel can be taken out with little extra efforts and put
into reuse without much processing.

3.2 Recyclingof Construction and Demolition waste

Once the waste generated from Construction and demolition waste has been segregated and reusable
items are taken out, the leftover waste is now available for recycling.Recycling of this waste into
useful products to extend the service to environment is a challenge. Worldwidein developed countries
there is enough activity ofrecycling of such wastes is taking place, but at present, in India, the
recycling of Construction and Demolition waste has started now only and we have to go a long way
in this direction. In New Delhi, 1st pilot plant is functioning at Burari in North Delhi, but it requires
many such plants to fulfill the needs in Delhi lookingat the recycling potential of waste generated daily
in New Delhi. About 5000 MT of recyclable waste is believed to be generated daily in New Delhi.

4 Reuse and Recycling potential of different C&D waste products

The amount of C&D wastes in India has been estimated to be 10 – 12 million tonnes annually and the
proportion of concrete estimated as 23 to 35% of total waste. Considering 30 % percent of C&D
wastes of 12 million tonnes as concrete, and 50 % of the concrete as coarse aggregate, the total
available recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) in India is of the order of 1.8 million tonnes annually

4.1 Concrete
Concrete is primarily a composition of cement, coarse aggregates, fine aggregates and water, further
processed by addition of industrial products/ by products for enhancing the properties. Engineers are
mainly dependent on nature for obtaining the Coarse and Fine aggregates as well as water for the
chemical reaction with cement. Scarcity is there for all these naturally occurring materials and need is
there to explore alternative sources. Even for the water with required properties, shift is towards the
use of waste water after due treatment. One of the alternative sources of coarse aggregates is recycled
concrete aggregates (RCA) which are obtained from the processed Construction and Demolition
(C&D) waste. During and after the demolition of any concrete structure, the demolished concrete
waste is taken to a recycling plant and there crushed into the required sizes which is called the
Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA).
 Fig 1Recycled Coarse Aggregates (RCA) after processing
Sometimes, good sized precast element are also obtained during the demolition, which have a
potential of being reused or otherwise, these are also crushed and converted into the recycled
aggregates. Limitation is there in use of these recycled aggregates. The production of concrete in India
is governed by BIS and IRC codes i.e. IS: 456, IS: 1343 or IRC: 112. All these codes allow the use of
naturally occurring aggregates only conforming to IS: 383. To overcome these limitations, it is
necessary to make a special provision of use of Recycled aggregates in combination with naturally
occurring aggregates. Thus, use of recycled aggregates can be there with different quantum of their
share by suitable replacing the component of naturally occurring aggregates. It will help out not only
in meeting the situation where there is acute shortage of natural resources, but also a step towards the
sustainability.
In our bye laws or environmental law, framing of rules will be required for the use of C&D waste.
It can have a provision in Environment Protection act, 1986 or a separate act can be introduced
independently. Guidelines are required to be framed for use of C&D waste. If we look at other
countries like Norway, Japan and Korea, a major junk of demolition waste is recycled and is being
used as a partial replacement of natural aggregates and concrete thus produced is being widely used in
these countries.

4.2 Brick
Bricks are important building material in the construction of residential as well as non –residential
buildings in this country. It is also a significant component of the total C&D waste on new residential
construction sites. Its demand figures are next to concrete as a building material. Bricks are largely
treated as waste when broken or damaged from the brick production line or from construction site due
to poor internal handling and excessive cutting.Brick is a maintenance-free component of the structure
which is durable during the complete service life of the building.The high durability property of the
brick makes it environmental friendly in the sense that after the demolition of the structure, it can be
reused repeatedly and the left over volume which is non-reusable can be recycled for other beneficial
purposes.Generally, a building is not required to be demolished due to deterioration in the Engineering
properties of the bricks. It is for different reason or different needs other reasons that the building has
outlived its useful/economical service life and required to be replaced with new structure.During the
demolition process itself, bricks obtained are stacked for next use in its original form after the removal
of mortar which is chiseled out and make the brick ready for reuse or recycling, if not reusable.
 Fig 2Demolished Brick
Bricks, after the removal of the stuck up mortar remain reusable for restoration or for new homes
and projects. Recovered bricks can be used like a fresh lot of bricks without any further processing.
These can also be laid on as brick pavers or for landscaping or any other artistic creations. Brick paved
streets are aesthetically pleasing and rain water also percolates through the pavement. Also, a brick
surface is cooler in hot months. These street advantages make bricks a good choice in driveways.
Bricks on edge are also sometimes used as economical pavement solutions in smaller compounds.
Bricks which cannot be reused directly can be disintegrated into smaller sized aggregates or brick
chips to be used as construction materials. These recycled bricks products are strong and durable
enough in comparison to the original brick.Bricks from demolition sites can be recycled as Road base
and construction fill and also as light weight concrete.
Construction debris consisting of bricks can be recycled into brick aggregate through screening,
crushing, re-screening and blending, which can then be used as pavement base material by proper mix
proportions with cement and fly ash. Brick waste which are not suitable for recycling into the
pavement base materials can be used in construction/land fill.Concrete prepared from crushed brick
aggregate has good engineering and also better thermal properties but has greater shrinkage than
ordinary concrete. Sometimes, during the manufacturing of bricks, due inadequate burning, or
sometimes due to over burning, whole lot is turned into the production waste. Though this waste is
different from construction and demolition waste, but it can also be recycled like C& D waste and can
be suitable used for production of precast elements like paver blocks, kerb stones, interlocking tiles by
mixing with cement and using as a concrete mix.

4.3 Tiles
Generally, it is difficult to extract tiles from the walls in proper shape and size in order to find them
suitable for reuse. It also depends upon the type of the tiles, their life span and the existing conditions.
Seepage behind the walls due to leaking water pipes makes them totally non usable. Still tiles
extracted from walls, even if these are broken pieces, provide an excellent opportunity to the artists
/designers for making murals or other decorative master pieces. Broken tiles can also be used
aggregate after crushing.
If the tiles can be extracted or removed from the wall in good shape and size, these are reused for
the same purpose after the removal stuck up mortar and then glued with suitable adhesives available in
market today. Creative itemslike artifacts, table tops, special effects in drive ways, pedestrian subways
etc. can be smartly created by reusing for a wide variety of projects. Nek Chand’s Rock Garden in
Chandigarh, which is internationally renowned, is a perfect example of such reuses.
The broken tiles can be further crushed into smaller sizes and can be a partial replacement of
gravel and crushed stone in making concrete.

4.4 Timber
The waste timber is not only produced from the demolition of the building, but also from construction
of wooden building wherein lot of timber waste is generated. Each source has its own system of
recycling and reuse of recovered timber from the demolition of a building or the construction of a
building. Whenever a building is decided to be dismantled, timber products like doors and windows
are the items which are removed as first step and that too in original form. Timber products have a
quality of a long service life which is much longer than the life of the building itself. Hence, in general
such products unless eaten by the termites or damaged due to fire do not lose the Engineering
properties for a long time and can be used multiple times and thus an environmentally friendly
product.
The waste timber which has not been recovered in its original form or non-usable in same shape
and size, can be recycled into new particleboard, medium density fibre boards, animal bedding or used
to make renewable energy. Timber used for recycling has to be free from any other demolition
products like concrete, mortar, aggregates, sand, bricks, plastic, metals, tiles etc.Wood chips are
produced from good quality wooden waste such as large size lumbers. Some of the particleboard
producing companies and the pulp and paper producing companies are still using the recycled chip for
their products. Chipped or shredded wood is also used as a sewage sludge bulking medium and other
products lime pallets.

4.5 Metals
Amongst the metals, steel and Aluminium are the two major products obtained as waste during the
construction as well during the demolition of a building. Structural steel obtained during the
demolition of a steel structure or left over steel during the construction can be reused directly without
much processing. The members can be resized as op the requirement and can be reused directly.
Aluminium scrap can be put into reuse by the solid bonding process. If a care is taken in initial stages
i.e. during designing with a valid deconstruction plan, then the reusable scrape can be increased to a
much greater extent like house hold appliances, without taking the routing the scrap through a
foundry.Reusing a steel beam its existing form is better than re-melting it and rolling a new steel
beam, i.e. the energy used to re-melt the beam is saved.
Steel waste occurs during the construction and refurbishment of buildings and when they are
ultimately demolished and thematerial becomes available for recycling. Waste from the manufacture
of steel construction products can be easily collected and segregated for recycling. Steel generates
almost nil wastage on the construction site. Waste steel which is reusable is equally good in durability
criteria and the quality is also well maintained while making products like fire hydrants, steel furniture
and also ecologically sustainable.
As far as Aluminium is concerned, it is recyclable multiple times and is always on demand with
the need to preserve the environment. Our raw materials vary considerably based on whether we are
using primary or recycled aluminum. We must take into account the different sustainability impacts of
sourcing primary aluminum from the mined substance bauxite, or recycled aluminum from either pre-
or post-consumer sources. Recycling scrap aluminium requires very less energy in comparison to the
energy requirement of new aluminium. Because aluminum is infinitely recyclable, it can be reused in
applications vastly different from its previous purpose, and it can also be recast into its original form.
These properties make aluminum an ideal material for use in premium applications, even after being
recycled many times.

4.6 Plastic
Scrap or waste plastic recovered from demolition or construction site is reprocessed and transformed
into the entirely different useful products. Typically a plastic is not recycled into the same type of
plastic, and products made from recycled plastics are often not recyclable. When compared to other
materials like glass and metals, plastic polymers require greater processing to be recycled.The most-
often recycled plastic HDPE (high-density polyethylene) is reduced to plastic lumber, tables, roadside
curbs, benches, truck cargo liners, stationery (e.g. rulers) and other durable plastic products and is
usually in demand.Other application of recycled plastic is in the preparation of a road surface that
includes recycled plastic: aggregate, bitumen (asphalt) with plastic that has been shredded and melted
at a temperature below 220° C (428 °F) to avoid pollution. Such road surfaces arevery durable and
monsoon rain resistant.

4.7 Excavated Material

Excavatedmaterials are many times contaminated and require special handling and disposal. It may
include hazardous as well as non-hazardous material. Excavated contaminated material that can be re-
used will be decontaminated prior to re-use, or if not suitable for re-use will be transported to
appropriate treatment facilities or approved landfill sites. If the excavated materials are found suitable
for re-use as road fill base material,then the cut and fill quantities will be balanced to avoid any off-site
disposal. Excavated soils will be retained on site for re-use as backfill while hard rubble will be
crushed and re-used on site. Unsuitable material for engineering fill can be used for landscaping.

4.8 Asbestos
Generally, asbestos is disposed as hazardous waste in landfill sites. The demolition of buildings
containing large amounts of asbestos based materials have to be deconstructed piece by piece or the
asbestos has to be removed carefully before the structure can be demolished. Asbestos can be recycled
by transforming it into harmless silicate glass, porcelain stoneware tiles, porous single-fired wall tiles,
and ceramic bricks. Current removal procedures require a completely sealed area, using vacuum to
prevent any particles from escaping. Workers must wear heavy protective equipment. It is important to
ensure that asbestos waste has been wetted and sealed in heavy-duty plastic prior to transportation to
an approved landfill.

4.9 Asphalt Concrete

Demolished asphalt concrete can be utilised as aggregates for asphalt concrete. Also, the demolished
asphalt concretes can be used for land fill.

5 Simple guidelines to be followed in recycling of demolition waste

The agencies responsible for generation of wastes should separate the generated wastes having
potential for reuse/recycling.The Engineer-in-charge will select structure’s type and materials that are
suitable for reuse/recycling, use recycled aggregates, and ensure proper treatment of wastes generated
from such development.The waste generation from construction should not only be minimised, but
should also minimise the hazardous effect from the generated wastes.

5.1 Agencies (or sub-contractors):

Various agencies or sub-contractors to be involved are to be linked up with the steps in this process of
C& D waste reuse and recycling. Some of such steps can be listed as waste collection and
transportation,intermediate waste treatment i.e. receiving the waste, its segregation and further suitable
comprehensive treatment before putting into the use.The cost for C&D waste separation, storage,
treatment, reuse/recycling should be included in the Estimated Cost by the Engineer-in-charge while
according Technical sanction and preparing tender documents.
There are important duties to be either assigned or as a dutiful contractor, he may be establishing
himself like, he should establish step-by-step demolition plan.Contractor may establish treatment
facility at site only. He should report expected amount of wastes by type and treatment plan at the
beginning of construction.There should be effective utilization of recycled aggregates and Safe
treatment of hazardous waste like asbestos.
Contractor may be asked to submit Environmental Management Plan during Construction.

5.2 C&D wasteinformation on web

All C&D waste information by contractor and by those involved in its treatment waste treatment
companies are to be put on public domain in order to improve the rate of use of demolished concrete
for e.g. application of recycled aggregates. Further to have a stronger data base of C&D waste, users
reusing the C&D waste or recycled waste after treatment and processing can contribute a lot. This will
help in substantial reduction on the amount of wastes and promotion of recycling or reusing the C&D
waste.

5.3 Demolition Plan

It is required to adopt a systematic approach while demolishing a building in order to minimise the
waste and its best use. A recommended approach can be to follow a sequence of segregation of
household waste as first step followed by mechanical and electrical equipment, exterior and interior
finishing materials, roof finishing and water-proofing materials, then structure as a last resort.
Demolished C&D wastes need to be brought out of field immediately or temporarily stored in a
designated area for the C&D wastes.

6 C&Dwaste recycling facility in NewDelhi

One pilot plant set up IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure and Facilities Ltd. for North Delhi
Municipal Corporation is functioning at Burari, Delhi. After the collection of Construction and
Demolition waste, the material is routed through the Weighbridge to the processing site, wherein silt
and loose soil is separated and used for land filling. Processed C&D waste is used for sub base of
roads and for making bricks, paver blocks & kerb stones. The capacity of the plant is 500 T per day.
 Fig 3C&D Waste Management Plant setup by IL&FS at Burari

There are designated collection points where containers and skips are placed as a first storage
point of C&D waste where the waste is brought in by private persons. As an additional measure,
sufficient vehicles are also in operation to collect the waste from various locations of the city as per
the services required from pick up points.

Total C&D waste processed in 2012 has been shown in Table 1 and 2.

TABLE 1
C&D Not usable Material produced
processed – silt /loose
(for making soil less Aggregate Granular Sand Total
useful than 4 mm produced sub-base Produced (T)
products) (cum) (T) produced (T)
(T) (T)

153000 101421 11705 5632 4289 21626

TABLE 2
 Products Total cast/mixed/processed (cum)

Cast Products 2016

RMC 5947

Fig 4 Containers and skips Fig 5Mobile crusher

Fig 6 C&D Waste Utilisation : Test Road

 Fig 7 :C&D Products : Pavement Blocks and kerb stones

7 Conclusion
Concrete has become a high tech material and its production is used by economists as a measure of a
country’s economic strength. Aggregates from natural sources are getting scarce over the years. The
situation has forced us to explore aggregate from alternate sources. It is important to minimize C&D
waste generation and maximize reuse/recycling as the construction industry is consumer of
tremendous amount of natural resources.
In so far as use in concrete in India is concerned, IS: 456, IS: 1343 or IRC: 112 do not permit use
of aggregate other than those obtained from natural sources and conforming to IS: 383. In view of
international developments and experiences, as well as shortage of aggregate from natural sources
being experienced in many parts of the country, it is time that recycled aggregate are permitted for use
in concrete constructions.
The Municipal bye-laws are required to be reviewed and suitably modified. Establishment of
effective strategies and enactment of laws and regulations are essential to achieve this. In addition,
provisions of some incentives to users of the recycled products are necessary to promote the use.
Research & Development is to be promoted by Government. There is lack of public awareness
and it is required to spread the Information, Education and Communication in order to Garner Public
Support and change the attitude of Public and Staff. Data and results should to be posted in Public
Domain.

Acknowledgement
The authors are highly thankful to Indian Concrete Institute, New Delhi Centre for organising a
workshop on Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste recycling on February 28 and March 01,
2013 in New Delhi.The three international speakers namely Prof. Takafumi Noguchi from Japan, Dr.
Dong uk CHOI from Korea and Dr. Christian J. Engelsen, Senior Scientist, SINTEF from Norway
have shared their international experience with Indian delegates. Further authors are thankful to Dr. A
K Mullick, Chairman of C&D waste recycling committee of ICI for providing valuable information on
the subject. Further authors are thankful to Dr. N BMajumder from IL&FS andEr.
 PradeepKhandelwal, Chief Engineer, EDMCfor providing vital information regarding the pilot plant
setup at Burari for processing of C&D waste.

References
Dhir, R. K., and Paine, K. A., Value added sustainable use of recycled and secondary aggregates in
concrete, Indian Concrete Journal, March 2010, pp. 7 – 26.
IL&FS ECOSMART, Construction & demolition (C&D) waste; Collection, transportation and
disposal system, Project Report for MCD, Delhi Solid Waste Management Program, 38p.
Noguchi, Takafumi, Sustainable recycling of concrete structures, Indian Concrete Institute (ICI)
Journal, April – June 2012, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 40 – 53.
Mullick, A. K., Green options for binder system and aggregate in sustainable concrete, Indian
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Radonjanin, V., Malesev, M.,andMarinkovi, S. A., Recycled concrete as aggregate for structural
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