PARADE
Best practices for Pre-demolition Audits ensuring high-quality RAw materials
Goal
The project will develop lifelong learning materials on best practices for pre-demolition audits.
The aim is to provide a harmonized approach for performing the audits according to the current legislation and benefitting existing studies, and information on best practices collected.
The planning of the education material will take into account the current gaps and knowledge needs identified in the European member states.
CDW and pre-demolition waste audit
Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is the largest waste stream in the EU, accounting for over 350 million tonnes per year (excluding soil).
CDW has received more and more attention in the past few years as it is a lens to understanding the potential for resource efficiency improvement in the construction sector.
Indeed, CDW has a high potential for re-use and recycling, since some of its components have a high resource value and/or can be readily recycled.
In particular, there is a market for aggregates derived from CDW waste in roads, drainage and other construction projects. But the recycling potential of CDW is still underexploited.
The major challenge is the poor quality of the waste. The increasing awareness of hazardous substances in old construction materials, as well as more efficient detection methods, are expected to slightly decrease the recycling rate.
Here the pre-demolition audit is seen as an efficient tool to improve the quality of waste.
A pre-demolition audit is a tool enlisting and assessing all materials (and their potential value) within a building prior to demolition activity and is typically executed by external experts.
Pre-demolition audits are essential since they enable all the stakeholders involved to get information on the composition of waste and to make it easier to find markets for different waste types.
The European Commission seeks the harmonized and coordinated approach of the Member States to increase the high-quality recycling of construction and demolition waste.
A general framework for waste auditing in demolition activity has been published in a study and Guidance funded by DG GROW.
The pre-demolition audit, if performed correctly, can significantly promote the production of good quality raw material from C&D works.
Supporting training material and leading waste auditing examples can strongly enhance the knowledge of professionals in the sector, increasing the quality of these pre-demolition waste audits.
This project is part of the implementation of the DG GROW study and Guidance.