C&D Waste Market Moving from Landfilling to Recycling

The construction and demolition (C&D) waste market in Central and Eastern Europe is in a growing phase and is expected to rapidly develop at a CAGR of nearly 10 percent from 2012 to 2020, according to analysis from Frost & Sullivan.

As the economic situation in the region improves, the market tenders vast investment into road and building constructions, which F&S expects to result in tangible volumes of C&D waste. In addition, the New EU Member States in Central and Eastern Europe are in the process of setting up the necessary resources and infrastructure for the compliance of various EU Environment Directives and Standards, which includes securing a recycling target of 70 percent of all C&D waste by 2020.

Currently, the C&D waste management in the region is concentrated on landfilling, mostly because it is still not economical and profitable to direct C&D waste to recycling plants. This trend is expected to change as the majority of Central and Eastern European countries are introducing landfill restrictions.

Moreover, available landfill sites are shrinking in number and capacity. Furthermore, an improvement of collection schemes, recycling plant infrastructure and also technological developments in terms of C&D processing systems are expected.

Market participants need to develop optimal waste management processes in place as soon as possible, as Central & Eastern Europe is expected to experience increased infrastructure development. The region is emerging from a downturn with construction companies looking for recycled downstream aggregate as an alternative to relatively costly primary construction material in the pursuit of a truly circular economy. These trends, along with development of environmental standards (ISO 14000) and greater green building initiative development (LEED, BREEAM), bode well for the recycling services market, the study says.

The C&D recycling services market in Europe, which earned revenues of $18.75 billion in 2013, will grow to $23.85 billion in 2020, according to a May forecast by Frost & Sullivan.

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