Additional labour costs in the works which are not paid for, scattered expertise, lacking standardized procedures for materials identification and quantification, lack of treatment infrastructure, and little confidence on non-standardized recycled products seem to be the main reasons.
Several issues have been identified as a hampering burden to the further adoption of segregation practices at demolition and refurbishment works. Among all, higher labour cost of the demolition activity derived from more segregation is one main problem. This extra cost is absorbed within the supply chain in the cases in which recycled products are successfully reaching the market. Nonetheless, in other countries the demolition contractors don’t have enough economic incentives for implementing segregation practices. Additionally, there is still a lack of standardized procedures at European level for identification and quantification of materials arising from complex buildings, and expertise is nowadays scattered over some individuals and companies. It is believed that common procedures would boost and facilitate the benchmarking within the demolition sector. Likewise, further professionalization of the demolition sector might be required, and training of the technical (administration/consulting) body and of the demolition workers is claimed for. Moreover, lack of infrastructure is currently a relevant handicap. Standardization of construction products including C&DW materials could encourage awareness, confidence and acceptance of the market.
The strategies adopted by European Countries to reduce the non-recovered waste are uneven and the situation and success rates are likewise unequal. Flanders and The Netherlands, for instance, present the highest recycling rates among the countries within the study carried out by HISER project. Both countries have a landfill ban, but the strategies around regulation are diverting: onsite sorting and a waste audit (depending on size and type of building) are compulsory in Flanders, whereas in The Netherlands these practices are not enforced. The success in these countries may also be linked to their scarcity of natural aggregates. In the opposite side, recycling rates are low in Italy and Spain. Italy, for instance, has little regulations around C&DW, while Spain has strong regulations for compulsory pre-demolition audits (all construction, demolition and refurbishment works) and compulsory segregation. Nonetheless, these practices are hardly implemented, possibly due to lacking control and surveillance. Furthermore, lacking infrastructure hampers actual management of (these compulsorily to-be-segregated) streams separately.
