China environmental news reports that construction waste is the product of social development and affects the healthy development of society. In China, the construction waste is produced rapidly and the volume is huge. There is still a long way to go in the efficient utilization of construction waste resources.

In this regard, Germany in Europe, Japan and Singapore in Asia are at the forefront. In Germany, people's understanding of garbage is: once it is used well, garbage is also a resource; in Japan, there are more than 20 categories of "construction by-products", which are treated scientifically according to the categories; in Singapore, people pay attention to the development of green building standards, so as to reduce the generation of construction waste from the source.

Germany: the change of "garbage mountain" reflects the change of thinking on garbage disposal

There is an artificial mountain on the Bank of Hamburg's Elbe River. Among the green trees, the white wind power leaves rotate slowly. Who would have thought that decades ago, it was a storage yard of World War II bombed building debris, and then it was used to pile up industrial waste and urban garbage.

Since the 1980s, the local government has covered the garbage mountain with plastic waterproof membrane, paved up to 3m thick soil layer and planted vegetation. The biogas generated by the waste is collected and converted into part of the power source of a nearby copper refinery. In 2011, 8000 square meters of photovoltaic power generation system was installed on the garbage mountain, and the wind turbine with higher power replaced the old one. The electricity generated by the two can meet the annual demand of 4000 households. The waste liquid generated by the waste is also collected to heat the office. In addition, a 1000 meter long corridor has been built on the top of the mountain, making it the latest place for people to enjoy the panoramic view of Hamburg. Garbage mountain has become Hamburg's energy hill and citizens' landscape park.

The present and past of Hamburg garbage mountain reflects the change of thinking of garbage disposal in Germany. According to German law, every responsible person in the construction waste production chain needs to contribute to reducing waste and recycling.

Building materials manufacturers must design their products to be more environmentally friendly and recyclable. For example, the production of different lengths of plates, to avoid future re cutting. Construction contractors (including engineers and architects) must include waste recycling in the construction plan. For example, more recyclable building materials are used. The responsibility of the house dismantler is the most important. The law requires their demolition to be conducive to the recycling of construction waste. In the fierce market competition, the demolition business often obtains the contract from the owner with very low or even zero price, and then profits by decomposing, recycling and selling the construction waste.

At present, Germany is one of the best countries to recycle construction waste, with a recycling rate of 87%.

Japan: different laws dealing with different kinds of "construction by-products"

There are more than 20 subdivisions of "construction by-products" in Japan, and different laws apply to different kinds of by-products. For example, weeds are treated as general garbage, wood and construction sludge are treated as construction garbage, metals are treated as industrial garbage, asbestos, fluorescent transformer and other toxic and harmful substances are treated as special management industrial garbage, and construction waste is not classified as garbage.

Reducing the generation and reuse of construction site waste is the main principle of construction waste treatment in Japan. According to the promotion program for proper treatment of construction by-products, the employer and Construction Party of the construction project are obliged to reduce the generation of construction by-products in the construction process, and the building material supplier and designer are obliged to produce and use renewable building materials. The construction by-products that can be reused shall be reused as much as possible; the construction by-products that can not be reused shall be recycled as much as possible; the by-products that can not be recycled shall be burned as much as possible to realize heat recovery.

Japan has strict process management on the production, classification and treatment of construction waste. The construction team shall submit to the headquarters of the construction company a detailed plan for the estimation, classification, reuse and final treatment of the waste that may be generated by the project, and keep the result report for 5 years. If an enterprise produces more than 1000 tons of industrial waste in the previous year, it must submit the waste reduction plan to the local governor before June 30 of that year.

Singapore: limited land space forces the government to improve the recycling rate

For construction waste recycling plants, the Singapore environment agency supports them by leasing land. The construction waste recovered by these plants accounts for 80-90% of the total construction waste recycling in Singapore. In order to maximize the recovery of construction waste, the Singapore government has issued a code of conduct for building demolition to help the construction demolition contractor better plan the demolition process.

Singapore also focuses on reducing waste generation at its source, with relevant government measures including the green and elegant builders plan and the green building logo plan. The former is a certification program launched in 2009, which scores construction practitioners in terms of employee management, dust and noise control and public safety. The latter started in 2005. This certification is aimed at buildings in tropical areas. It aims to assess the negative impact of buildings on the environment and reward their sustainable development performance. The assessment indicators include energy conservation, water conservation, environmental protection, indoor environmental quality and other green features and innovation.

Source: China Environmental News