Emergency management of the construction and demolition waste - challenges and opportunities

Management of construction waste that was generated by earthquakes and reconstruction of damaged facilities requires good prior planning of options, as well as good coordination of all institutions during the reconstruction period. The planning should include three main levels: 1 – waste handling in a safe manner, with fast education of persons working on clearing and distribution of means for protection ; 2 – planning of the logistics and temporary storage areas ; 3 – analyses of the shortcomings of the existing legal framework for future waste management in crisis and issue instructions on crisis management of construction and demolition waste. This paper provides an overview of the current crisis management of construction and demolition waste after Zagreb earthquake in March 2020 , identifies challenges with management of such waste, and shows the la test advances in recycling of the problematic streams as an opportunity to advance both, emergency – and usual waste management. In c onclusion it provides recommendations to take following course od actions: 1 - increase of the capacity to recycle, treat and temporarily store construction and demolition waste ; 2 – improve the separation (recycling)process to allow the removal of other wastes and to separate the construction and demolition waste by category ; 3 – focus the activities on research and development of the products from recycled construction and demolition waste (upgrade), especially from the mixed construction and demolition waste ; and 4 – make possible the use of recycled materials in public procurement (including construction and reconstruction of public buildings and infrastructure), prioritise use of construction and demolition waste to stabilize the existing landslides and ground disturbances caused by the earthquakes, facilitate and stimulate the abolition of waste status of materials produced from the construction and demolition waste. Control, separation and/or immobilization of hazardous waste should not be overlooked, as well as the safety of people who handle construction and demolition waste in emergency and afterwards. Legal framework and procedures should be planned and prioritized in advance, thus preventing bottlenecks in communication a nd coordination of regulatory bodies of different levels in the time of emergency.