Author(s)

Sally M. Elgizawy^1*, Salah M. El-Haggar², Khaled Nassar¹

¹The Construction Engineering Department, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.
²The Mechanical Engineering Department, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.

Construction and demolition waste constitutes a huge part of the solid waste management system and is continuous on the rise because of the booming housing and building industry worldwide. Construction and demolition waste is not clear in its definition; it differs according to the location and type of the project which make it complicated to find a generic solution to construction and demolition waste management problems. A comprehensive list of construction and demolition waste stream was formulated and used in the course of this study. A thorough literature review was conducted to study the end life of each of the components of the construction and demolition waste stream and their reuse or recycling option. The conventional treatment of construction and demolition waste which is dumping them in landfills was presented and its negative impact on the environmental and socio-economic aspects and on sustainability highlighted making recycling the most viable option. The study aims at having a clearer picture of C & D waste classification methods, its components and their end of life treatment and evaluating them through the lenses of zero waste management. Zero waste is a way that promotes changing lifestyle and, ideologies to reach the ultimate goal of sustainable development through eliminating waste and having materials that circulate in closed loops. Applying zero waste concept to manage construction and demolition waste would be a great improvement in waste management as it promotes the reuse of resources, preserves the environment and is considered a step towards a sustainable environment.

Sustainable Solid Waste Management, C & D Waste, Recycling, Zero Waste Concept

Elgizawy, S. , El-Haggar, S. and Nassar, K. (2016) Approaching Sustainability of Construction and Demolition Waste Using Zero Waste Concept. Low Carbon Economy, 7, 1-11. doi: 10.4236/lce.2016.71001.