Introduction

Mention the term demolition to just about anyone and the picture that promptly comes to mind is usually a vision of a building being blown up and collapsing to the ground. Plenty of people have said they would love to push the button, to detonate the explosive devices that bring a disused structure to the floor. On many occasions what comes down, must go up so we are seeing many unsightly properties being taken down to make way for potential future development, generally during a regeneration project.

For businesses who over several years have built their business around the demolition of structures, the demolition market has become much more reaching than simply demolishing outdated buildings. After the building is demolished the tremendous task of site clearance starts and in a community where consideration of the environmental effects are high on many peoples agenda, the material residues coming from demolition should be separated for recycling purposes. This will include such materials as steel, wood, plastic, brickwork and concrete.

The majority of the materials are bulked up and transported to the appropriate recycling plants for reprocessing. Products such as bricks and concrete are generally crushed and become a recycled concrete aggregate substance available for reuse in the making of new highways or buildings. Increasingly though, by means of advancements in technological development, derivatives such as rubble to be recycled must meet a very high specification for reuse in construction projects.

When crushed, the different sizes of recycled aggregate will govern the future usage potential of the product. Large sizes could possibly be used as ornamental rockery products in gardening whilst much finer, shingle like product may be used as a bedding for pipe laying or as a layer in highway construction. With an ever-increasing amount of options recognized for the reuse of recycled aggregate, the entire demolition and construction industry is generating a substantial contribution to sustainable development.

Reasons Behind the Increased Focus on Recycling from Construction and Demolition Projects

In 1996, UK Government imposed a levy on all waste products going to landfill. The tax is paid on top of regular gate fees for waste material being disposed in landfill and since its introduction the fee has risen annually. When first introduced, the typical rate of duty for general wastes going to landfill was �7 per tonne and �2 per tonne for inert substances. The levy should encourage commercial and industrial firms and local authorities collecting from households, to divert waste away from landfill for recycling. In April 2009, the standard level of landfill tax grew to �40 per tonne and is scheduled to rise each year by �8 per tonne until 2013. The lower rate of tax incurred upon any inert materials going to landfill including concrete and soils, has remained comparatively steady in recent years and is presently at �2.50 per tonne.

Even so, the weight factor alone of a bulk load of these inert products going directly to landfill will guarantee that the full cost of disposal becomes very expensive and so even in the demolition and construction arena, diverting waste from landfill is a priority.

For all your building project demolition company needs find a reputable firm online.

The next time you see a demolition project in progress or pass almost any construction site during a build programme, it’s obvious to see the amount of waste materials being created. If waste material is not in skips, piles of rubble will probably be stacked high. The placing of rubble waste in skips has been a serious issue for waste companies for several years. I have worked within the waste industry, I’ve seen skip lorries tipped backwards with the cab of the vehicle up in the air, due to the sheer overloading of waste skips with building site waste.

Each and every year, the uk produces around 330 million tonnes of waste material and approximately 90 million tonnes of this is coming from construction and demolition wastes. This figure has stayed relatively constant since 2001. Approximately two thirds of this waste is usually recycled or reused in land reclamation or agricultural improvement projects. Ever since the late 1990s there has been a steady rise in the quantities of construction waste materials being recycled and this has been aided by improvements in technology that have resulted in improved crushing products to make more common use of different specifications of recycled aggregates.

In recent years, the construction sector in general has worked hard to encourage construction project supervisors to put a greater emphasis upon recycling on site. This has led to a rise in the recycling of inert materials from site.

Before the introduction of the landfill levy all construction site waste materials including bricks and concrete was bulked up and transported to a landfill site for disposal. No particular attention was given to recycling. There are now strict limitations across the sector, coupled with an increase in environmental focus, as well as the commercial benefits in ensuring that this type of waste is recycled. There is also significantly greater recognition of the vast array of business opportunities to use recycled aggregates in the construction process on future construction projects or in environments such as landscaping or home and garden Do-it-yourself. Following the demolition process, together the waste concrete, bricks, masonry etc will probably be transformed into a recycled concrete aggregate. Recycling of aggregates has become a common process for demolition contractors.

To recycle concrete aggregate to a high grade and resalable product, it must be totally free from other contaminants such as wood, paper, card, steel and other general waste materials. The end product also needs to comply with the specifications of British Standard BS 8500. The task of recycling the concrete can normally be achieved in one of two ways. Some demolition companies will transport a crushing system on the demolition site, whereas some contractors will prefer to carry the waste to be recycled, back to their premises for segregation for recycling or re-use. On projects where demolition and new construction is to occur at the same site, the contractor is very likely to place a crushing machine on site to escape incurring extra transportation costs in taking the materials to a sorting and crushing centre.

Many established Nottingham demolition contractors also have extended their services to include site clearance services.

The Increasing Demand for Top Quality Recycled Aggregate

Before starting the crushing process, it needs to be determined what the end product is to be used for to make certain that the recycled aggregate is to satisfy the required standards. There’s huge demand for recycled concrete aggregate to be used within the construction process. As a product, recycled concrete aggregate can be utilised for almost any form of concrete structural function, road surfacing or pipe laying project. Having passed through the crusher the chunks of aggregate will be sorted by size. Bigger pieces can be retained as a decorative product to use in landscaping rockery projects, or they might be passed back through the crusher to be pummeled to a reduced size. The smaller pieces of recycled aggregate could be suitable for use as a gravel on new construction projects, road laying or driveways at home. The crushing units are now capable of achieving top quality small aggregate grades such as the production of a 20-5mm gravel which can be bagged and used in the garden at home or purchased in bulk as part of projects involving new concrete production. The advances in technology mean that the recycling of aggregates for other uses such as a simple gravel product or for use in concrete products has greatly reduced the need to dig quarries to mine for gravel. Recycled aggregates have become a versatile reusable product and has eliminated the need for large volumes of a good material to be disposed of in landfill and therefore offer significant environmental benefits.

The interest in top quality crushed aggregate is ever-increasing. There are key standards in position which are concentrated upon improving the recycled aggregate market. Through research and improvement, more widespread uses are being discovered for the employment of recycled aggregate. No longer is concrete, just concrete. What we are talking about now are many distinct grades of recycled aggregate, which range from the large chunks of aggregate to very precise 6f2 recycled concrete which can be used as a sub-base material for construction jobs, or 20-5mm recycled aggregate, which is a gravel and can be used in road construction or at home on driveways. In addition to being used as a mix for highway construction, recycled aggregate is being used as bedding for pipe laying or base material prior to construction projects commencing. In achieving such top quality grades the 20-5mm recycled aggregate can be utilised as an aggregate base in road building and the quality meets the specifications necessary to allow its reuse in concrete production.

On the list of important criteria when you use recycled aggregate is choosing the best specification for the task. By way of example, when making use of 20-5mm coarse graded aggregate for a highway foundation, the thickness of the layer needed must be determined to stand up to traffic flows. Traffic flow on a motorway is going to be significantly different to that of a country road. One good reason aggregate produced to a 20-5mm specification is employed as a road base is that it helps good drainage. Once the recycled aggregate is installed, appropriate layers of asphalt or concrete can be laid over it to construct the road surface.

In recent years, in the United Kingdom we appear to have more rain than sunshine and for that reason the chosen aggregate must have the capacity to endure variances in temperature and conditions e.g. dampness for long periods, torrential downpours, long dry spells. With its good waterflow and drainage qualities, the recycled 20-5mm product may be the perfect choice for many sand and gravel applications including, pipe bedding, driveways and footpaths, landscaping, and also for use in ready mixed and precast concrete products.

There is stringent legislation in place to provide guidance on the safe asbestos removal from buildings.

Recycled Aggregates and the 2012 Olympics

In its bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, London set sustainability as the focal point of its bid. The bid team identified a major opportunity to boost awareness of climate change and the challenges which encircle it, and bring it to the Globe’s attention. With the eyes of the World observing, the Olympics provide a unique chance to convey important messages about sustainability. During the entire development of the Olympics project, there exists a responsibility to make 2012 the most sustainable Olympics ever held. This focus began when preparing the development and build programmes for the amenities and venues, the transport links and system, the hosting of the Games themselves and will end by leaving behind a long lasting legacy of a sustainable environment.

Ever since London was awarded the Games, all partners involved in the development requirements, from the building of the Olympic Arena, the Olympic Village and transport links to the venues have been encouraged upon ensuring the use wherever possible of sustainable resources. Across the entire Olympic build programme architects have worked hard to identify appropriate sustainable materials for use in the build programme. By the end of the overall project there will be some clearly visible cases of the use of sustainable products.

Similarly there will be many more that are much less visible, and furthermore, many which will be not visible at all. Some of those products which visitors to the games and its many sites will not even think about how recycled aggregates have been employed as part of the overall construction project. But developers and specifiers of materials to be used in the build programme will be comfortable in the knowledge that they have selected sustainable products which include, the most appropriate recycled aggregates as part of the project. With its identified qualities, let’s hope that somewhere in the world wide Television coverage the 20-5mm recycled aggregate gets a mention somewhere, somehow. Imagine being asked to supply recycled aggregate which meets a very specific 20-5mm clean material specification, to help build the 2012 Olympic Village.

Summary

How times have changed in recent years in the demolition and construction market. Organisations have needed to change to meet challenging green standards. As with just about any industry, new laws and legislation determine the benchmarks to which your company must aspire, if it is to achieve success.

Firms engaged in the production of recycled concrete aggregate aren’t any different. These are generally categorised as processed materials and must conform to a particular product specification which can be used in the construction process. The standard BS8500-2 offers a full specification for the uses of recycled concrete aggregates in concrete, although with such a vast range of recycled aggregates an all encompassing specification for the use of these aggregates is yet to be determined. The most crucial thing is that the industry does not stand still and wait for the specifications to be finalised. The versatility of recycled aggregates means that demolition contractors operating crushing plants are seeking to identify markets through which to sell their recycled products. The advances in crusher technology and machinery has seen a big increase in the options now available in supplying large chunks of recycled aggregate for landscape gardening use in rockeries, down to a gravel type 20-5mm recycled aggregate with its good drainage qualities for use in road construction and driveways. The demolition and construction industry now places sustainability at the forefront of its future development projects.

Jordan Reviews