LCA of Construction and Demolition waste in Mendoza Metropolitan urban area (Argentina)

IRMA T MERCANTE; ARENA, AP; MARIA D BOVEA

Pucon

Conferencia; III Conferencia Internacional de Análisis de Ciclo de Vida en Latinoamérica; 2009

CIMM

The Construction and Demolition Waste (C&D), generated from the construction, renovation and demolition of structures, are not under the state regulation and control in many regions of Latin America. In Mendoza’s province, Argentina, the management of C&D waste is reduced to collection, transport and disposal, being the last practiced in unauthorized sites. Therefore, there are no strategies for recovery, reuse or recycling.Qualitatively it can be argued that disposal of C&D waste without control leads to negative effects on the physical environment, damaging landscape, changing the conditions of flora and fauna, and also causing socioeconomic impacts. Furthermore, the efficient use of materials and energy in the industrial realm requires considering waste as a resource. However, the introduction of recycling technologies in C&D waste stream is often hampered by economical constraints and besides their environmental advantages vs. potential alternatives of treatment and landfill are often questioned, requiring reliable data to argue the election of an alternative.In this regard, in this work the total environmental burden of managing C&D waste from building-related industry generated in the metropolitan area of Mendoza city is evaluated, taking into consideration two alternatives: current practice and recycling with controlled landfill. The methodology applied to quantify the overall impact in both alternatives is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), providing a complete cradle-to-grave picture of C&D waste.In addition, information on the current waste management practice and the characterization of building-related waste data based on the composition and quantity of the generated residues in the delimited geographical area are presented.