Building sustainable low-cost buildings from building waste materials in the United States: A review of the present practices and future potential

Abstract

In America, the construction and demolition (C&D) waste volume equated to 600 million tons in 2018, which is over 50% of total municipal solid waste. This figure is dominated by concrete, wood, asphalt, and metal. The majority of this waste ends up in landfills, which poses grave environmental hazards like greenhouse gas emissions along with leachate production, rapid depletion of landfill space, and increasing economic costs. This paper argues that recycling C&D waste into reusable building materials is environmentally and economically more conducive. Through the repurposing of C&D waste, construction spending can be lowered while protecting natural resources and promoting affordable housing utilizing wood, glass, plastic, as well as asphalt and concrete. The advancement of sustainable construction coupled with alleviating waste management issues is made possible through this form of mitigation. This paper evaluates the technical characteristics alongside the economic value to build a case on the approach’s environmental impacts while examining its limited application reasons and proposing ways to improve advocacy towards it. The U.S. construction industry has a remarkable opportunity at the intersection between economics, the environment, and sustainable building practices to fundamentally reconsider its waste handling and infrastructure development for the future.