Construction, demolition and excavation waste management in EU/Greece and its potential use in concrete

Construction, demolition and excavation waste (CDEW) of private and public works comprises one of the largest waste streams in the European Union. It is maintained that, on average, 750 million tonnes of CDEW are produced every year. In Greece alone, almost 4 million tonnes of CDEW are generated per annum. In the present paper, the legislative background associated with the management of CDEW is initially presented, followed by the advancements achieved concerning its implementation in the EU and Greece in two periods before and after the construction boom linked to the 2004 Olympic games. Furthermore, attention is focused on current progress made in recycling CDEW during the construction of reinforced concrete structures. It is confirmed that recycled aggregates and recycled concrete aggregates can be effectively re-reused in structural concrete applications, while pulverized concrete dust can potentially be introduced as a supplementary cementitious material into the concrete mix. Finally, the usage of nanoparticles in recycled aggregate concrete is expected to open new markets in the near future.