SAMCODE - Sustainable Approach to Managing Construction and Demolition Waste

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste means any matter, substance, or thing which is generated as a result of construction work and abandoned. It is a mixture of surplus materials arising from site clearance, excavation, construction, refurbishment, renovation, demolition and road works. The industry generates significant amounts of solid waste that, when recycled, may result in substantial economic and environmental benefits.

In Macedonia during home renovation, many citizens collect the broken tiles, splinters, plasters etc. in bags and throw them beside or in a container or load the waste into trailers and throw it at meadows, in rivers, at hills and at forbidden landfills, which is prohibited. To legally clear the scarp, citizens should pay for its transport and disposal in a landfill site that possibly motivate them to make violations and throw the waste where they think is convenient and safe from municipal inspectors. The public enterprise for public hygiene announced that negligently discarded construction waste generates problems, regarding the damaged containers and trucks for municipal waste.

First problem is no-knowledge on exact amounts of C&D generated/disposed in the region, and no-identification or characterization of existing dump sites for C&D. According to the landfill operator "Drisla" last year 3.945 tons of C&D waste were deposited from Skopje planning region, and this year, including August, 2.610 tons of waste. But this refers only to C&D waste from MSW containers (estimated as 1.72% of total MSW in the region, source: SEA Report on RWMP for Skopje planning region, p.86). On the territory of City of Skopje (621.518 citizens), the estimated amounts of C&D waste are 149.164 tons per year.

Another problem represents the uncertain composition of C&D waste in the region. Since there were no surveys nor the examination of the composition conducted, no one knows what types of C&D are present, therefore cannot be certain on which amounts can be re-used, recycled, incinerated or disposed (mainly hazardous components). This must be done with proper analysis of chemical composition of samples. Methodology for sampling and measuring shall be provided by the scientists from Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze Della Terra at University of Ferrara in Italy. IEGE Skopje shall be the research centre responsible for conducting on-site surveys at all 57 identified dump-sites and sites for C&D waste as well as quantification of C&D wastes and to came up with the best approach to develop an integrated management of this waste in the City of Skopje, provide a “know-how” on analysis of compounds and possibilities for minimization, transport and safe disposal of C&D waste, as well as estimating associated GHG emissions.

The project also aims to transfer information available to the Beneficiaries through trainings and workshops in Ferrara (Italy) and in Skopje (Republic of Macedonia).