Evaluating the environmental impact of construction waste: A comprehensive analysis of End-of-Life scenarios in Environmental Product Declarations

IF 7.1 1区工程技术 Q1 CONSTRUCTION & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

Building and Environment Pub Date : 2025-05-09 DOI:10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113159

Lea Hasselsteen, Emilie Brisson Stapel, Harpa Birgisdóttir, Christian Grau Sørensen, Kai Kanafani

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Abstract

Understanding and managing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) related to waste management in construction is essential for reducing the sector's environmental impact. Here, environmental product declarations (EPD) play an influential role in the currently emerging carbon regulation of buildings. However, impact indicators for products in available EPDs are based on varying waste management practices across different regions, resulting in significant uncertainties in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results for practitioners and researchers. This research analyses 16,801 datasets from the largest European EPD aggregator, excluding inconsistent or incomplete data. The datasets were categorised into 114 product categories and consolidated into 20 waste fractions based on Danish practices, resulting in 4696 usable datasets. Correlation analysis of the end-of-life (EoL) stage across four regions revealed statistically significant patterns for specific waste fractions, emphasising the need to define regional differences in EoL assessments. Building services exhibited the highest emission factor (EF) at 5411 kg CO₂e/tonne, while soil showed the lowest at 14.7 kg CO₂e/tonne. EFs varied from 36 % to 399 %. The production stage (A1–3) contributed 80 % of total EF, followed by waste processing (C3) at 19 %, disposal (C4) at 1 %, and transport (C2) at 1 %. Reuse, recycling, and energy recovery (D) contributed -16 % to the total EF. The study proposes regional EFs for construction waste based on a solid statistical foundation to enhance local LCA applications and promote a circular economy. Beyond carbon emissions, the results also demonstrate the importance of including other environmental impact categories for developing effective waste management strategies while avoiding burden shifting.

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评估建筑废物对环境的影响：对环境产品声明中报废情景的综合分析

了解和管理与建筑废物管理相关的温室气体排放（GHGe）对于减少该行业的环境影响至关重要。在这里，环境产品声明（EPD）在当前新兴的建筑碳监管中发挥着重要作用。然而，现有epd中产品的影响指标是基于不同地区的不同废物管理实践，导致从业者和研究人员在生命周期评估（LCA）结果中存在很大的不确定性。本研究分析了来自欧洲最大的EPD聚合器的16,801个数据集，排除了不一致或不完整的数据。这些数据集被分为114个产品类别，并根据丹麦的做法合并为20个废物馏分，产生4696个可用数据集。对四个地区的报废（EoL）阶段的相关分析揭示了特定废物组分的统计显著模式，强调了确定EoL评估的区域差异的必要性。建筑设施的排放因子（EF）最高，为5411 kg CO2e/吨，而土壤的排放因子（EF）最低，为14.7 kg CO2e/吨。EFs从36%到399%不等。生产阶段（A1-3）占总排放量的80%，其次是废物处理（C3）占19%，处置（C4）占1%，运输（C2）占1%。再利用、再循环和能源回收(D)占总能源消耗的- 16%。该研究基于坚实的统计基础，提出建筑废物的区域生态效益，以加强本地生态效益分析的应用，并促进循环经济。除碳排放外，研究结果还表明，在避免负担转移的同时，纳入其他环境影响类别对于制定有效的废物管理战略的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Building and Environment 工程技术-工程：环境

CiteScore

12.50

自引率

23.00%

发文量

1130

审稿时长

27 days

期刊介绍： Building and Environment, an international journal, is dedicated to publishing original research papers, comprehensive review articles, editorials, and short communications in the fields of building science, urban physics, and human interaction with the indoor and outdoor built environment. The journal emphasizes innovative technologies and knowledge verified through measurement and analysis. It covers environmental performance across various spatial scales, from cities and communities to buildings and systems, fostering collaborative, multi-disciplinary research with broader significance.