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Recycling Potential of Building Materials: A Review

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Environmental Implications of Recycling and Recycled Products

Abstract

All buildings have a specific lifetime which can be divided as construction, operation, and demolition phases. A lot of energy and capital are required in the construction phase of a building inasmuch as a large variety of materials is required for building construction. A high amount of waste material is generated in the construction and demolition (C and D) phases of a building. Due to this fact the dumping of C and D waste materials for landfill is neither economical nor environmentally friendly due to the many environmental impacts associated with it. Thus it becomes quite important to think about the reuse of C and D waste of a building. Recycling and reuse of waste material reduces the requirement of fresh and virgin materials in construction of new buildings. Along with the requirement of fresh material, it increases energy requirements as well as externalities. As we know, many GHG emissions are associated with procurement, manufacturing, transportation of building material, and on-site construction activities which can be reduced by reuse of waste materials in new building construction. This chapter reviews the recycling potential of different types of building materials as well as the energy, economic, and environmental impacts on construction of buildings.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, THDC Institute of Hydropower Engineering and Technology, Tehri, 249124, Uttarakhand, India

    Himanshu Nautiyal

  2. Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, 177005, H.P, India

    Venu Shree

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gurukul Vidyapeeth, Banur, 140413, Punjab, India

    Sourabh Khurana

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Moradabad Institute of Technology, Moradabad, 244001, U.P, India

    Niraj Kumar

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, 177005, H.P, India

    Varun

Authors
  1. Himanshu Nautiyal
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  2. Venu Shree
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  3. Sourabh Khurana
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  4. Niraj Kumar
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  5. Varun
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Correspondence to Varun .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sustainability Consultant, Global Sustainability Services, SGS Hong Kong Limited, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

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Nautiyal, H., Shree, V., Khurana, S., Kumar, N., Varun (2015). Recycling Potential of Building Materials: A Review. In: Muthu, S. (eds) Environmental Implications of Recycling and Recycled Products. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-643-0_2

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