Editorial

Abstract

As you know, in the last years the construction sector has generated huge quantities of construction and demolition (C&D) waste worldwide. In particular, Europe has generated around 890 million tonnes of C&D waste per year and specifically Spain generated roughly 47 million tons of C&D waste in 2006, of which only 13.60% was recycled

Therefore, the management of C&D waste in building works is necessary if we want to reduce the environmental impact generated by our buildings, during all the building life cycle: construction, life and demolition processes

The aim of this special issue is to point out the serious shortcomings in Europe and, in particular, in Spain regarding the management of C&D waste during construction works

The first two articles of the special issue: “European legislation and implementation measures in the management of construction and demolition waste” and “Demolition waste management in Spanish legislation” try to describe the current situation of the C&D waste management. The other articles included in this special issue, suggest a series of measures, from several points of view, which will enable an improvement of the C&D waste management used today by most countries

In this sense, the measure proposed in the third article titled “Approach to the use of global indicators for the assessment of the environmental level of construction products” is based on a series of indicators which determine the environmental impact produced by some materials and construction elements used in the construction of a building

Moreover, the article entitled “Calculation methodology to quantify and classify construction waste” focuses on preventive measures. This article shows a methodology for the calculation and classification of C&D waste in order to implement preventive actions which will improve the C&D waste management

In the article "Legal aspects which implement good practice measures in the management of construction and demolition waste" researchers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid propose a series of measures mainly based on legislation. Nevertheless, they determine the responsibilities --regarding C&D waste management-- for all the construction agents involved in the design and construction of a building, with the certainty that only with the determination of several responsibilities the management of C&D waste will improve

Finally, the article entitled “Management of waste from packaging of construction materials in building construction works” specifies all these aspects through the analysis of what happens with the management of packaging waste