Concrete - Resource circular economy: Opportunities to reduce waste disposal across the supply chain

Concrete is one of the most widely used building materials with a global consumption rate approaching 25 gigatonnes per year. The key economic drivers for concrete product manufacturing in Australia include demand from residential building construction, demand from heavy industry and other nonbuilding construction, demand from non-residential building construction, actual capital expenditure on mining, capital expenditure by the public sector, demand from road and bridge construction. The residential and non-residential building markets represent the principal source of demand for concrete products. The prime building contractors or project developers, including individual homeowners or property developers, generally fund the procurement of concrete products for building projects. Concrete makes up the greatest proportion of masonry material recycled in Australia, at around 60% of all masonry material recycled. The latest data for concrete waste recovery indicated that Australia recycled 6,007,156 tonnes of concrete waste, of which 71% was generated in the construction industry. The current report reviews the main strategies to reduce the volume of concrete waste going to landfill at different stages of construction and demolition activities.