Webinar of 2022 China-Europe Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling was sucessfully held

2023-02-03

In October 2022, the webinar of "China-Europe Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling" co-organised by China Association of Circular Economy (CACE) and China Ecological Building Material Association at the China Building Material Federation was successfully held. The webniar invited seven experts from China and Eurpoe on construction waste management, to discuss and exchange around circular economy and the development of sustainable and recyclable technologies for construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Mr. ZHAO Kai, Executive Vice President of CACE, delivered an opening speech and delivered the theme of presentation.

The following 7 experts attend the webniar:

Mr. ZHAO Kai, Executive Vice President of CACE; Mr. Jan Valentin, Project Director of  RECONMATIC and Professor of the Czech Technical University in Prague; Mr. LIU Jingjiang, Director of the green building materials department of the science, the Technology and Industrialization Development Centre of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; Mr. Vitalij Tetervov, R&D Manager of BIMBox; Mr. Alfonso Arevalillo Román, Researcher of TECNALIA Research & Innovation; Mr. WANG Yong, Professor of the University of Manchester; Mr. CHEN Lei, Researcher of China Academy of Building Research.

ZHAO Kai

Introduction to the overall status of circular economy in China

Executive Vice President ZHAO Kai shared a report on The Current Situation of China's Circular Economy Development. In this report, ZHAO Kai sorted out the development process of circular economy in China, especially the results achieved by the circular economy in China since the 18th Party Congress. He also pointed out that the next step of circular economy development will focus on three key areas, namely actively establishing a resources recycling system, accelerating the construction of waste material recycling system, and deepen the development of agricultural circular economy.

Jan Valentin

C&D Waste Recycling in EU and Innovative Research in Automation

Professor Jan Valentin presented the RECONMATIC project plan, and pointed out that the mission of the RECONMATIC project is to combine the principles of the circular economy with more efficient construction and demolition waste management to better manage the entire life cycle of buildings. This implies an industrial transformation of the traditional construction sector, which is a major challenge not only for developing countries but also for developed countries. This project brings together a number of partners from three regions of the world, the EU, the UK and China. Jan Valentin said they work together with the China Association of Circular Economy and other technology partner companies to achieve the goals of the RECONMATIC project.

LIU Jingjiang

C&D Waste Recycling in China: Current Landscape and Future Developments

Director LIU Jingjiang introduced the importance and current situation of China's construction solid waste recycling from three aspects: the current situation of China's construction waste resource utilization, the mechanism and the development prospect. He pointed out that as of 2020, China's urban construction waste resource treatment rate is still only about 10%, far below 90% in Europe and the United States and 95% in Japan and South Korea. China's construction waste recycling industry has huge room for development.

Vitalij Tetervov

BIM & C&D waste management

The BIMBox Company that Manager Vitalij Tetervov works for is involved in the RECONMATIC project. He presented the application of BIM models in the management of construction demolition waste. The task in the RECONMATIC project was to define an open BIM approach, one that would allow the exchange of information between different software by creating a common thread that allows all project participants to trust the information when exchanging it. When project participants look at the whole lifecycle of construction waste, it can help them understand how they are transported, how they are designed, and what information is needed during the design phase, the construction phase and the demolition phase, making waste information management more effective.

Alfonso Arevalillo Román

C&D Waste Pre-demolition Audits

The TECNALIA that Researcher Alfonso Arevalillo Román work for is another organization involved in the RECONMATIC project. He presented the guidelines for pre-audits of demolition and renovation activities, and to select manufacturing processes that comply with CE standards.

WANG Yong

Reuse of Structural Members

Common structural building materials include steel, concrete, brick and timber. Professor WANG Yong presented an overview of the recycling of several structural materials. He said that recycling and reusing structural elements in buildings is difficult but it is still possible, and the degree of difficulty depends on the materials you are dealing with. The key is not in the technology, which is all possible, the real key is in creating a market and creating market demand.

CHEN Lei

C&D Waste Carbon Reduction and Innovative Utilisation under the Dual Carbon Goal

Researcher CHEN Lei introduced the overview of construction waste in China and analysis of the carbon-neutral technology pathway of the building materials industry. He also introduced several directions of product innovation for construction waste utilization, such as increasing the use of construction waste by applying it to projects such as road base treatment and sea-enclosing land. In addition, the high-added-value of construction waste can be improved through the development of recycled panels, high-fluidity lightweight insulated concrete walls or other complete product technology applications.