Recycling of construction and demolition waste in Kuwait

'Full text:' There is an increasing pressure on the construction industry to reduce costs and improve our environment. The fact is that both of these goals can be achieved at the same time. Although construction and demolition (C and D) constitutes a major type of waste in terms of volume and weight, its management and recycling efforts have not seen the light in Kuwait. The goal of this research project is to study methods leading to the minimization of the total C and D waste that is landfilled in Kuwait. This can be achieved by applying the waste management hierarchy in order of importance: 1) reduce, 2) re-use, 3) recycle, 4) incineration (energy recovery), and 5) safe disposal. This paper presents the current C and D waste disposal system in Kuwait and identifies potential problems to the environment, people and economy. Then, it investigates the recycling option to manage and control this major type of waste in an economically efficient and environmentally safe manner. There are significant volumes of potentially valuable and recoverable resources being wasted in the construction industry, and these figures are continuously growing as we are starting the new millennium. C and D waste constitutes 15%-30% of all solid waste entering landfills in various countries [Bossink 1995]; and thus it is a major type of waste. An estimated 2-3 million ton of construction and demolition waste are being only disposed of in Kuwait's landfill sites each year despite the limited available land (Industrial Investment Company, 1990). C and D waste is a target because it is both heavy and bulky, and therefore undesirable for disposal in engineered, lined landfills because of the space it consumes. On the other hand, many C and D materials have high potential for recovery and use. Recovering C and D waste can help communities reach their recycling goals, preserve valuable space in their local landfills, and create better opportunities for handling other kind of waste. Therefore, this paper focuses on the management of this major type of waste, and will present practical solutions for its control and recycling. The effective management of C and D waste can bring important benefits to those involved in producing and handling it. These benefits include: reduced environmental impacts from wastes, savings in disposal and transport costs, avoiding waste, reduced expenditure on subsequent site rehabilitation, save resources, and revenue from reuse and recycling. In addition, effective waste management policies require an awareness of the problems that might arise from poor management of C and D wastes, management options available (source reduction, recycling of materials, combustion and landfilling), and legal requirement for these options. Recently, the Kuwaiti government has approved the establishment of a private facility for construction and demolition waste recycling. This paper will provide a comprehensive evaluation and assessment of this recycling effort both economically and environmentally. (author)