Characterizing the generation and flows of construction and demolition waste in China

Associated with the continuing increase of construction activities such as infrastructure projects, commercial buildings, and housing programs, China has been experiencing a rapid increase of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Till now, the generation and flows of China's C&D waste has not been well understood. This paper aims to provide an explicit analysis of this based on a weight-per-construction-area method. Our results show that approximately 2.36 billion tonnes of C&D waste were generated in China annually during the period of 2003-2013, of which demolition waste and construction waste contributed to 97% and 3%, respectively, in 2013. East China contributed over half of the total C&D waste in China due to their rapid economic development and expansion of cities, followed by Middle China (21%) and South China (11%). Potential economic values from the recycling of C&D waste were found to vary from 201 billion (the worst scenario, i.e., the current practice of C&D waste management) to 401 billion US dollars in 2013 (the most optimistic scenario, i.e., C&D waste is assumed to be well recycled); and the landfill space demands were estimated to range from 7504 million m3 (the worst scenario) to 706 million m3 (the most optimistic scenario) accordingly. Consequently, increasing the recycling rate and reducing landfill rate of C&D waste could not only improve the potential recycling economic values, but also dramatically reduce land use and potential environmental impacts.