Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste
Historical Background of Construction Waste Management
Recycling of demolition waste was first carried out after the Second World War in Germany to
tackle the problem of disposing large amount of demolition waste caused by the war and
simultaneously generate raw material for reconstruction. Considerable research has been carried out
in U.S.A, Japan, U.K, France, Germany, Denmark and in other developed countries for recycling
concrete, masonry, bricks, bituminous and other constituents of waste from Construction Industry.
In India Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, and Central Road Research Institute
(CRRI), New Delhi have done studies to assess and demonstrate possibility of using construction
waste to substitute new materials via recycling.
According to Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), study, 70%
of the construction industry is not aware of recycling techniques and concludes the need for quality
standards for recycled aggregate materials and recycled aggregate concrete to help setting targets
for quality products and assure the user of a minimum quality requirement, thus encouraging him to
use it.
The C&D rules takes into account the historical perspective of the problems of C&D waste disposal
and methods deployed to manage them, both locally and globally.
Indian Scenario of C&D Waste Processing
In India, it is very common to see huge piles of C&D waste, stacked alongside of major roads
resulting in traffic jams, congestion and disruption & choking of drains. Around 30% of the total
municipal solid waste generated in the country comprises C&D waste.
TIFAC has conducted a techno-market survey on 'Utilization of Waste from Construction Industry'
targeting housing/building and road segment. The total quantum of waste from construction
industry is estimated to be 12 to 15 million tons per annum out of which 7-8 million tons are
concrete and brick waste.
As per the Central Public Health & Environmental Engineering Organization (CPHEEO), the
Indian Real Estate Industry alone is facing a shortage of aggregates to the extent of 55,000 million
cum. In addition, 750 million cum of aggregates would be required to achieve the targets of road
construction sector, which will lead to tremendous pressure on natural
resources.
The C&D Waste generated in each city would reflect different characteristics based on each city's
growth pattern and lifestyle. While retrievable items such as bricks, wood, metal, tiles are recycled,
the concrete and masonry waste, accounting for more than 50% of the waste from construction and
demolition activities, are not being adequately recycled in India.
The traditional practice in India is to dispose this waste in landfills or illegally dump in rivers and
water bodies. Faced with growing environmental concerns and lack of landfill space, most cities
like Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune are opting for recycling and recovery of materials from
C &D waste.
Definition of C&D Waste
"Construction and demolition waste" means the waste comprising of building materials, debris and
rubble resulting from construction, re-modelling, repair and demolition of any civil structure;
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 1
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste is generated whenever any construction or demolition
takes place. These wastes consist of mostly inert and non-biodegradable material like concrete, tiles,
brick aggregates, plaster, wood, plastics, gypsum, glass, metals, solvents, asphalt, asbestos,
excavated soil & rock particles etc, many of which can be recycled. These wastes are heavy, bulky
and occupy considerable amount of space when dumped without processing. Conventionally, these
wastes excluding metal and wood are regarded as a material with limited economic potential, but
actually these wastes provide an ideal solution to minimize the problems of virgin material
exhaustion ( E.g.: Sand, aggregates etc).
During construction activity, excessive cement mix or concrete left after work is over due to
rejection/ demolition caused by change in design or wrong workmanship etc. Construction wastes
are mainly leftovers from new construction materials like Excavated material such as rock and soil,
Waste asphalt, broken bricks, concrete, plasterboard, timber and vegetation during construction and
all other wastes includes from construction activities on a typical construction site.
Sources
Fig 1: Sources of C&D Waste
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 2
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
Construction waste is that resulting from the construction of roads and building. Sometimes old
buildings and structures are pulled down (demolished) to make space for new ones. This is
particularly common in old cities that are modernizing. This is called demolition waste.
Waste items include concrete debris, wood, earth, huge package boxes and plastics from the
building materials and the like. Sources of C&D waste are shown in figure 1.
Effects of C&D Waste
Construction activities occur to build/rebuild new structures or old structures. Demolition activities
are growing due to old structures needing renovation or replacement with time to make way for
vertical structures or flats in line with growing needs of the society. All such activities generate
C&D waste.
Disposal of such debris in a safe environment is a big challenge for the builders, developers, and
owners. When on one hand the disposal of debris is a challenge, then, on the other hand, there is an
acute shortage of naturally available aggregates for the construction of buildings. Reduction of this
demand is possible only with the reusing or recycling of waste generated from the construction
activities.
Construction, renovation, and demolition projects create environmental and economic problems in
addition to waste. These include depletion of already diminishing natural resources, air and water
pollution from waste that is improperly disposed of, and, for many state and local governments,
pressure on premium landfill space and taxpayer money. As virgin materials become scarcer and
more costly, some increased recycling of construction, renovation, and demolition waste has
occurred, but most of these materials continue to be discarded.
Moreover, many types of construction materials and demolition waste contain persistent, bio-
accumulative toxins (PBTs) and other hazardous substances.
Typically, demolition activity is undertaken by specialized demolition contractors who bring their
own equipment and personnel and transport the residual waste. The property owners pay fee to the
demolition contractors, which is decided based on the recoverable value of recycled materials –
steel, wood, glass, pipes etc. by demolition contractors.
The environmental impacts of unmanaged C&D waste are evident. Waste to resource approach
towards recycling C&D waste brings great benefit.
Environment and Social Impacts of Unmanaged C&D Waste include:
• Impose strain on landfill needs;
• Hazardous portion of waste, such as asbestos, could lead to potential harm to the
environment and public health issues;
• Illegal dumping affecting the bio-habitat of dump area and creates potential public health
issues such as mosquito breeding;
• Potential high value of recycled material not tapped and gets buried in landfills or illegal
dumps leading to economic loss;
• Increasing quantity of C&D Waste leads to un-sustainable situation;
• Reliance on mines and natural sources for building material leads to escalating price, un-
sustainable supply and high transportation costs;
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 3
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
Rationale for C&D Waste Management rules
India's population living in cities and urban areas increased from 14% at the time of independence
to 27.8% during 2001; again it has increased from 27.8 percent in 2001 to 31.16 percent in 2011.
The increased urbanization and scarce land created opportunity and demand for multi-storied
housing flats in place of independent houses. The demolition of old structures generates C& D
waste besides new construction requiring building materials creating the need to manage demolition
waste through 3R's principles and planned disposal.
The rules are framed to address
• The current common practice to pile C&D waste in the road or illegally dump in less
populated areas causing traffic congestion.
• C&D waste from individual households finding its way into nearby municipal bins
• To avoid mixing of this waste with municipal waste as these in MSW make it heavy, and
degrading its quality in MSW processing such as composting or energy recovery etc.
• To prevent clogging of surface drains blocking free flow of water runoff and obstructing
them.
• To create a framework for organized storage, collection, reuse or disposal of waste
generated.
• To meet the demand for aggregates in the housing and road sectors through recovery of
materials from C& D waste to reduce significant gap in demand and supply.
• To reduce resource depletion due to sand mining which is becoming a major source of
problem. Recycling of aggregate material from construction and demolition waste will
reduce the demand-supply gap.
Chronology of evolution of C&D Waste Rules
C&D waste is one of the major components of MSW and is a major hindrance in waste processing
when mixed with MSW and delivered at the processing facility. C&D waste finds a brief mention in
Schedule III of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 and the
''Manual on Municipal Solid Waste Management'' of the MoUD, 2000 has a chapter on C&D waste
which lays down basic guideline on its handling.
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has notified Construction & Demolition and Desilting
Waste (Management & Disposal) Rules 2006.
The Delhi government has decided to mandate recycled products from C&D waste in prospective
contracts for building works and road works. Following the verdict, all Delhi government
authorities are required to incorporate a clause in their tenders: It mandates use of a minimum of
two percent recycled products in all future contracts for building works and ten percent recycled
products for road works. Five percent use of such products is expected for non-structural
applications during examining and approving building plans.
To address the growing problem of C&D waste, and have uniformity in approach to address
the issue which is being randomly and separately being addressed by each state, C&D
Waste Management Rules 2016 were enacted by MOEF&CC vide Gazette notification
Key highlights of the recent developments:
• Mandatory for large cities to setup recycling plant within 18 months and smaller cities
within 2-3 years.
• Generators of waste are required to pay notified collection and processing fees.
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 4
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
• Imposition of heavy penalties on illegal dumping of C&D Waste.
• Use of Construction & Demolition waste (20% to 100%) is allowed in construction. IS- 383
standard code revised.
• Introduction of Centralized Helpline number including Mobile App in Delhi.
Features of C&D Waste Rules-2016
The Government has notified Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 for the
first time. These rules shall be called the “Construction and Demolition Waste Management
Rules, 2016”. The guiding principle of these Rules is to recover, recycle and reuse (3R's) the waste
generated through construction and demolition. Segregating construction and demolition waste and
depositing it to the collection centers for processing will now be the responsibility of every waste
generator.
Cities with a population of more than one million will commission processing and disposal facility
within 18 months from the date of final notification of these rules, while cities with a population of
0.5 to 1 million and those with a population of less than 0.5 million will have to provide these
facilities within two years and three years respectively. (Rule – 13)
Monitoring shall be made by State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) 3 times a year i.e. once in 4
months for cities having population more than one million. Cities with population of 0.5-1 million
and less than 0.5 million shall be monitored by SPCBs 2 times a year i.e. once in 6 months. (Rule –
13)
“Permission for construction will be given only when the complete construction and demolition
waste management plan is presented”, and large generators of waste will have to pay relevant charges
for collection, transportation, processing and disposal, as notified by the concerned authorities.
The following are the important features of the Construction & Demolition Waste Management
Rules, 2016.
Application (Rule – 2)
- Applies to everyone who generates construction and demolition waste.
Duties of waste Generators (Rule – 4)
- Every waste generator shall segregate construction and demolition waste and deposit at collection
center or hand over to the authorized processing facilities.
- Shall ensure that there is no littering or deposition so as to prevent obstruction to the traffic or the
public or drains.
- Large generators (who generate more than 20 tons or more in one day or 300 tons per project in a
month) shall submit waste management plan and get appropriate approvals from the local authority
before starting construction or demolition or remodelling work,
- Large generators shall have environment management plan to address the likely environmental
issues from construction, demolition, storage, transportation process and disposal / reuse of C & D
Waste.
- Large generators shall segregate the waste into streams such as concrete, soil, steel, wood and
plastics, bricks and mortar, and disposal as notified by the concerned authorities;
Duties of Service providers and Contractors (Rule –5)
- The service providers shall prepare a comprehensive waste management plan for waste generated
within their jurisdiction, within six months from the date of notification of these rules,
- Shall remove all construction and demolition waste in consultation with the concerned local
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 5
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
authority on their own or through any agency.
- Accidents if any during the process shall be Reported to Local authority on time (FORM -V) (Rule
– 14)
Duties of State Government and Local Authorities (Rule –6 & 9)
- The Secretary, Urban Development Department in the State Government shall prepare state's policy
with respect to management of construction and demolition waste within one year from date of final
notification of these rules.
- The concerned department in the State Government dealing with land shall provide suitable sites for
seeing up of the storage, processing and recycling facilities for construction and demolition waste
within one-and-a-half years from date of final notification of these rules.
- The Town and Country planning Department shall incorporate the site in the approved land use plan
so that there is no disturbance to the processing facility on a long-term basis.
- The department shall procure and utilize 10-20% materials made from construction and demolition
waste in municipal and Government contracts.
- Local Authority (LA) shall place appropriate containers for collection of waste, removal at regular
intervals, transportation to appropriate sites for processing and disposal.
- LA shall seek detailed plan or undertaking from large generator of construction and demolition
waste and sanction the waste management plan;
- Seek assistance from concerned authorities for safe disposal of construction and demolition waste
contaminated with industrial hazardous or toxic material or nuclear waste if any;
- LA shall give appropriate incentives to generator for salvaging, processing and or recycling
preferably in-situ;
- LA shall establish a database and update once in a year,
- Million plus cities (based on 2011 census of India), shall commission the processing and disposal
facility within one-and-a-half years from date of final notification of these rules
- 0.5 to 1 million population cities, shall commission the processing and disposal facility within two
years from date of final notification of these rules
- For other cities (< 0.5 million populations), they shall commission the processing and disposal
facility within three years from date of final notification of these rules
- LA shall review and issue instructions to the in- charge of the facility if any accidents reported by
in charge of the processing facility (Rule – 14).
Duties of CPCB, SPCB or Pollution Control Committee (Rule –8 & 10)
- The Central Pollution Control Board shall prepare operational guidelines related to environmental
management of construction and demolition waste.
- SPCB shall grant authorization to construction and demolition waste processing facility (Form-III)
- Monitor the implementation of these rules by the concerned local bodies
- Submit annual report to the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Government. (Form IV)
Standards for products of construction and demolition waste (Rule –11)
- The Bureau of Indian Standards need to prepare code of practices and standards for products of
construction and demolition waste
- Indian Roads Congress needs to prepare standards and practices pertaining to products of
construction and demolition waste for roads construction.
Duties of Central Ministries (Rule –12)
- The Ministry of Urban Development, and the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 6
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
Panchayat Raj, shall facilitate local bodies in obtaining compliance of these rules;
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change shall review implementation of these
rules as and when required.
Facility for processing / recycling facility (Rule –7)
- The operator of the facility shall obtain authorization from State Pollution Control Board or
Pollution Control Committee. (Form-I)
- The processing / recycling site shall be away from habitation clusters, forest areas, water bodies,
monuments, National Parks, Wetlands and places of important cultural, historical or religious
interest. (Schedule-I)
- The processing/recycling facility exceeding five Tonnes per day capacity, shall maintain a buffer
zone of no development around the facility.
- The operator of the facility shall submit the annual report to the State Pollution Control Board
(Form II).
C&D Waste Processing and Recycling opportunities
Reuse and recycling of C&D waste is one component of a larger holistic practice called sustainability
or green building construction being practiced in most developed countries. Re-utilization or
recycling is an important strategy for management of such waste.
Construction and demolition waste can be used in the following manner:
• Reuse (at site) of bricks, stone slabs, timber, conduits, piping railings etc. to the extent possible and
depending upon their condition.
• Sale / auction of material which cannot be used at the site due to design constraint or change in
design.
• Plastics, broken glass, scrap metal etc. can be used by recycling industries.
• Rubble, brick bats, broken plaster/concrete pieces etc. can be used for building activity, such as,
levelling, under coat of lanes where the traffic does not constitute of heavy moving loads.
• Larger unusable pieces can be sent for filling up low-lying areas.
• Fine material, such as, sand, dust etc. can be used as cover material over sanitary landfill.
• Use as a granular sub-base (the layer above compacted earthen sub-grade) in road construction. Sub-
base is generally constructed using non-plastic moorum. Processed
• C&D waste (after sizing and sieving) can be used in road pavement for sub-base construction.
C&D waste being a free draining material, its proper particle gradation can be used in place
of moorum.
Economic Benefits of Using C&D Waste Recycled Products:
• Use of recycled aggregate up to 30% does not affect the functional requirements of the structure as
per the findings of the test results.
• Various tests conducted on recycled aggregates and results compared with natural aggregates are
satisfactory as per IS 386.
Environmental benefits of recycling C&D waste
The environmental benefits of recycling C&D waste are considerable. By assessing carbon di oxide
and energy use at a large-scale recycling plant, researchers have shown that, over its 60-year life
span, the carbon dioxide emissions prevented will be ten times as much as those produced, and eight
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 7
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
times as much energy will be saved, than is used.
It eases the production and emission of greenhouse gas and other pollutants by reducing the need to
extract raw materials and transporting the materials long distances. It reduces the need for new
landfills and the costs involved in it. Recycling saves energy and also reduces the environmental
impact. It creates employment opportunities in recycling industries. A lot of money can be saved by
reducing the project disposal costs, transportation costs and the cost of new construction materials by
recycling old materials onsite.
Two Pillars of C&D Waste Stream Utilization:
1. Reusing of C& D Waste: 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
possible use without further processing.
2. Recycling of C&D Waste: Once the waste generated from construction and demolition activities
has been segregated and reusable items are taken out, the leover is available for further
processing i.e. recycling into next useful stage.
Uses of C&D Waste Recycled Materials
Rapid infrastructural development such as highways, airports etc. and growing demand for housing
has led to scarcity & rise in cost of construction materials. Most of waste materials produced by
demolished structures are disposed by dumping them as land fill. Dumping of wastes on land is
causing shortage of dumping places in urban areas. Therefore, it is necessary to start recycling and re-
use of C&D waste to save environment, cost, and energy.
Recycling of Waste Concrete
Recycling of waste concrete is done to reuse the concrete rubble as aggregates in concrete. The
recycled aggregates have less crushing strength, impact resistance and specific gravity and have more
absorption value as compared to fresh aggregates.
Necessity of Concrete Recycling
Millions of tonnes of waste concrete are generated every year around the world due to following
reasons:
• Demolition of old structure,
• Destruction of buildings and structures during earthquakes and wars,
• Removal of useless concrete from structures, buildings, road pavements etc.
• Waste concrete generated due to concrete cube and cylinder testing, destructive methods of testing
of existing structures etc.
Advantages of Concrete Recycling
Usually, demolished concrete was shipped to landfills for disposal, but due to greater environmental
awareness, the concrete is being recycled for reuse in concrete works. There are a variety of benefits
in recycling concrete rather than dumping it or burying it in a landfill. Keeping concrete debris out of
landfills saves space there.
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 8
VVIET
Module 4
Integrated Waste Management for a Smart City
Other Benefits of Recycling of Concrete are
• Local Product – Local Sources
• Reduces Truck Traffic
• Alternative to a Non-Renewable Resource
• Cost Savings
• No Disposal Fees
• Better Trucking Utilization (Reduced Costs)
Using recycled material as gravel reduces the need for gravel mining. There are also economic
benefits. Recycled concrete is a construction material that the community does not need to pay for;
those who generated the concrete waste pay a fee to have it recycled.
Question Bank
1. Explain the Historical Background and Indian Scenario of C&D Waste.
2. Define C&D waste. List and explain the various sources of C&D Waste.
3. Brief about the various Effects of C&D Waste.
4. Explain in detail about the C&D Waste Rules & Regulations-2016.
5. Explain C&D Waste Processing and Recycling opportunities and their benefits.
Dr Adarsh S, Department of Civil Engineering, Page 9
VVIET