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

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 16801 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 CO 2 e/tonne, while soil showed the lowest at 14.7 kg CO 2 e/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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