Recycling potential in building energy renovation: A prospective study of the Dutch residential building stock up to 2050

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126835
• Publication Date: 2021-04-03T23:12:44Z
• Authors: Chunbo Zhang; Mingming Hu; Benjamin Sprecher; Xining Yang; Xiaoyang Zhong; Chen Li; Arnold Tukker
• Keywords: Demolition waste; Scrap; Retrofitting; Mineral wool; Building material; Material flow analysis

Building energy and construction demolition waste (CDW) are highly relevant but intertwined issues for the transition towards a carbon-neutral circular built environment. Ongoing renovation uses an increasing number of emerging materials that pose challenge recycling. As response, novel technological system has been proposed to recycle CDW (including insulation mineral wool lightweight concrete) manufacture prefabricated concrete elements (PCEs) use as façades new (PCE-new) retrofitting existing (PCE-refurbs) buildings. To explore how this can improve recycling potential part building efforts, Dutch residential stock was selected case study. Using dynamic material flow analysis, we supply-demand balance secondary raw made from normal-weight concrete, glass, wool, steel) required manufacturing PCEs in period 2015–2050. Our findings show with advanced technology, recovered waste, glass steel scrap will be more than sufficient support PCE-new walls, implying possibility closed-loop construction. However, such related not near future meet demand large-scale refurbishment PCE-refurbs. Therefore, shows technology offers promising solution management problems renovation, primary still needed increased concrete.