The Reuse of Excavated Soils from Construction and Demolition Projects: Limitations and Possibilities

Abstract

The construction and demolition of infrastructure can produce a surplus of excavated soils that ends up at landfills. This practice is not sustainable, and approaches are needed to reduce soil waste and minimize environmental and human health hazards. The “Reuse of urban soils and sites” Working Group in the European Large Geotechnical Institute Platform (ELGIP) works towards a safe and resource efficient use of excavated soils for construction. By considering relevant literature and practicals based on experience in the participating ELGIP countries (France, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden), this study presents current practice related to the reuse of excavated soils, and the main barriers (regulatory, organizational, logistical and material quality) to effectively reuse them. Results show that there is no consensus on the best strategies to manage excavated soils in urban areas. This paper provides suggestions of ways in which stakeholders can increase reuse of excavated soils.

Forward and reverse logistics for circular economy in construction: A systematic literature review

“…Despite being an important strategy of CE, little literature has shown awareness of logistics in reuse practices. In civil construction and the building sector, the reuse of excavated waste and by-products has been standard practice and normally involves certain logistics considerations about the allocation of vehicles and materials (Hale et al, 2021;Roth and Eklund, 2003). Van den Berg et al (2020a) and Anastasiades et al (2022) indicated the possibility of the reuse of demounted building components through a selective demolition and recovery process.…”

Biopolymers impact on hygrothermal properties of rammed earth: from material to building scale

“…Raw earth has low embodied energy thanks to local availability, low processing energy during the construction phase, and recyclability [7,8]. Moreover, rammed earth construction offers the potential of reusing non-hazardous waste from excavations, which represents around 7-10 million tons per year in France [7].…”

“…Raw earth has low embodied energy thanks to local availability, low processing energy during the construction phase, and recyclability [7,8]. Moreover, rammed earth construction offers the potential of reusing non-hazardous waste from excavations, which represents around 7-10 million tons per year in France [7]. In addition to their low environmental impact, some properties of raw earth materials are of interest for the operational phase of a building's life, such as high thermal mass and the capacity to buffer moisture variations.…”

Prácticas de circularidad en la gestión de los Residuos de Construcción y Demolición en el sector de la construcción: una revisión bibliográfica de las estrategias y los elementos clave en su implementación

“…Recolección de prácticas de gestión de RCD para la optimización de procesos en obra (1, 3, 17-19, 26, 27, 32-34, 36, 44, 47, 58, 83-88) Recopilación de prácticas de reciclaje de RCD para la incorporación en elementos constructivos (2,13,25,39,87,(89)(90)(91)(92)(93)94) Análisis sectorial Diagnóstico regional de las problemáticas asociadas a los RCD (19, 78, 82, 86, 91, 95-97) Recolección de parámetros para la gestión de los RCD en mercados sostenibles (55, 73, 98-101) Relacionamiento de casos con economía circular y actores en la cadena de valor de los materiales (37, 42, 46-48, 63, 65, 80, 81, 102) Análisis del potencial de los materiales minerales y RCD para fomentar el reciclaje y las ventajas económicas, sociales y ambientales (28,97,103) Realización de entrevistas a organizaciones de diversas actividades en el sector de la construcción como piezas claves para el adecuado manejo de los RCD (8,15,18,22,26,27,44,49,70,71,75,76,84,85,(104)(105)(106) Tecnología Uso de herramientas y metodologías tecnológicas (BIM-GIS) para la gestión sostenible de los RCD (10,11,49,50,107) Simulación asistida para la evaluación del comportamiento en la toma de decisiones aplicables a las prácticas de gestión de RCD (10,…”