Accreditation system for construction and demolition waste recycling facilities in Egypt

ABSTRACT

The Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) recycling industry is one of the important elements of sustainability as it reduces carbon emissions and energy consumption. One of the main actions in the action plan of the Construction and Demolition Waste Management National Strategy in Egypt is establishing quality management system for CDW recycling. Developing accreditation system for CDW facilities is one of the tasks of this action that has a high priority due to government recommendations. This research aims to promote standardization and quality through an accreditation system for CDW recycling facilities. The developed accreditation system is composed of six main elements and several criteria. The relative importance of each element and criteria in the developed system is determined using multiple criteria analysis. The study revealed that the most important elements are the equipment and the availability of documents while the least are health and safety. A Microsoft Excel checklist is developed and used for evaluating of C&D waste recycling facilities to be accredited so as to ensure the quality of C&D waste management process and recycled products. It is also used to classify the CDW recycling facilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Accreditation system
• Classification System
• C & D Waste Management Quality
• Construction and demolition wastes
• multiple criteria analysis
• recycling facilities

Introduction

Quality management for CDW is an important step in increasing confidence in the CDW management processes. The main barriers to implementing a quality management plan are variability in quality, environmental impact of CDW and marketing of recycled products [1]. To overcome these barriers efforts should be made toward improving the quality and providing certification for recycled products and for CDW processing (Recycling Units) [1].

In 2013, the Recycling Certification Institute (RCI) began applying an ISO-level protocol to the certification of recycling facilities for C&D in USA. The Construction and Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) led to the creation of the protocol, which was developed in collaboration with representatives from construction industry, haulers, recyclers and the government under the guidance of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) [2].

Housing and Building National Research Center (HBRC) is the sole organization in Egypt commissioned by the government to develop and periodically upgrade buildings and infrastructure engineering codes. HBRC developed an accreditation system for ready mix concrete plants in Egypt and is responsible for auditing and accrediting them to ensure the quality of concrete [3]. Egyptian Organization for Standards & Quality (EOS) in collaboration with HBRC modified (16) standard specifications that allow the usage of recycled C&D waste materials. HBRC also developed the Action Plan for the National Strategy for Construction and Demolition Waste Management in Egypt, 2021 in cooperation with Ministry of Environment. One of the main actions in the action plan is establishing quality management system for CDW recycling. Developing an accreditation system for CDW recycling facilities is one of the tasks of this action that has a high priority.

Therefore, developing an accreditation system for CDW recycling facilities suitable for the Egyptian market following the methodology of RCI Certification of C&D recycling facilities and HBRC accreditation system for ready mix concrete plants is the main objective of this study.

Literature review

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is any substance/object generated in construction/demolition sites [4]. In Egypt, construction projects produce about 50 million tons of wastes per year. Most of them are illegally dumped or landfilled, which causes water and land contamination [5,6]. Construction and demolition waste mostly includes concrete, metals wood, gypsum board, glass and asphalt [7].

To encourage recycling of waste, awareness should be among different stakeholders about its effects and benefits, while increaing the establishment of recycling plants and allowingthe usage of recycled products. In addition, recycling will allow creation of new industries, avoid dumping problems, and reduce energy consumption and CO₂ emission as well as make the environment clean. The recycledCDW can be used in new building materials such as (bricks, tiles, etc.), gravel for roads pavement and aggregates (fine and coarse) for landfill activities,as well as concrete mixes [7,8].

Recycling plants description

Recycling plants of CDW are differentiated based on type of crusher, mobility and separation process. Recycling plants are classified into two types: stationary and mobile. Stationary plants are usually used in high density areas, produce products of high quality, and can produce different recycled products with different grading. They use high-level technologies and separate unneeded fractions using sorting equipment. Mobile plants use basic technologies and produce low-grade recycling aggregates. Capacities of mobile plants are up to 100 ton/h. They can treat small quantities of CDW in temporary worksites [7–9].

CDW recycling plants usually have a weighing and visual inspection area, diversion to different treatments area, screening, magnetic and manual separation, and crushing area [7,9,10].

CDW are weighed at the entrance of the CDW stations, and classified according to the composition (concrete, mixed and asphalt) and according to the cost of removal of improper elements [11].

The basic CDW recycling plant begins with initial classification where large materials are crushed at the discharge area. After that, metals are separated using magnetic separation and the fines are separated by a rotating screen, followed by diverting low-density materials using an air sifter and a hand-sorting cabinet. In advanced CDW recycling plants, the process begins with sorting of large wastes and crushing of the waste stream before treatment. Then, they are separated into fines and coarse. The fines fraction is used to produce high-quality products after being cleaned in spirals in a wet classification, and the coarse fraction is treated with wind sifting. At the end, concrete is treated to eliminate gypsum and can produce different qualities of recycled aggregates [7,12].

Quality management plan for construction and demolition waste

CDW management contributes to the fundamentals of the circular economy as it focuses on materials reuse and recycling and applying of quality assurance system of recycled materials [6]. Appropriate quality management plans help control processes and quality of products [13].

Previous studies indicated that when choosing recycled products, stakeholders face many challenges such as contamination, quality and unacceptable performance. This is due to lack of technologies and procedures and scarcity of expertise and competent staff. In order to ensure the same level of quality in the recycled product, defining standards and training staff members should be applied [14,15].

Table 1 shows different stages of the process of recycling and the quality management steps at each stage. The stages include demolition sites; waste transfer; and C&D waste recycling sites. Documentation and acceptable traceability procedures should be done at all stages. To validate the quality of recycled materials, certification, accreditation and labeling are used. Recycled materials should follow international standards that apply to natural materials and be assessed in accordance with the requirements of product standards [13].

Table 1. Recycling process quality management steps at each stage.

Waste identification, source separation and collection	Waste transportation	Waste processing and treatment
Pre-demolition audit	Safe transport	Waste acceptance (at recycling/landfilling site)
Selective demolition	Special provisions/declaration for hazardous waste	Input control (e.g.: asbestos protocol)
Identification and separation of hazardous waste	Identification form	Factory production control (addressing essential characteristics of products)
	Registered or approved transporter/carrier	Acceptance criteria (such as for raw materials used for waste-derived products manufacturing)
		Frequency of the samples
		Identification of the recycled aggregates used in a specific product/infrastructure (delivery note) (final tests of the waste- derived products clearly documented).

Source (FIR, 2016, modified by Ecorys).

As regards the quality of recycling products, many efforts have been done worldwide and in Egypt. Previous researches addressed certifying some products, for example, recycled aggregate (RA) certification that categorizes the aggregate into different classes, which helps produce materials of recognized quality to be used in different construction applications [9]. In Egypt, Egyptian Organization for Standards & Quality (EOS) in collaboration with HBRC modified (16) standard specifications to permit the usage of recycled C&D waste materials in different construction applications in Egypt.

In the assurance of quality process, only a little effort has been taken; that is why it is essential to establish an accreditation system according to the requirements of national Egyptian standards [16].

Certification of recycling facilities

The objective of the RCI is to have reliable recycling by C&D recycling facilities. Certification of Recycling Rates (CORR) developed by RCI is a national standard program that provides a credible, ISO-level third-party certification of recycling rates of C&D facilities that meets the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leed MRpc87 criteria. The audit done by the certifying organization includes verification of facility sales into markets, evaluation of recyclables sales records, monitoring off-site movement and information about facilities’ customers weight tags. For the first year certification, the certifying organization should visit the facility; after that, site visits should occur at least once every two years [17]. During the site visit, traceability of materials should be audited including how they enter, are measured and sorted and exit facility. Interviews with staff should be conducted and a check for equipment types and capacity should be confirmed. Also load/materials sorting and accuracy should be observed and verified. Another important aspect to be checked is to verify the usage and accuracy of scales including calibration frequency.

The creation of a certification/accreditation system to certify C &D recycling facilities and products will create a new industry and market in Egypt. As mentioned before, there are some efforts made to ensure the quality of products but there is still not enough attention to ensure the quality of process in recycling facilities. That is why the objective of this study is to develop an accreditation system for CDW recycling facilities suitable for the Egyptian market.

Materials and methods

This research adopted the qualitative methodology as shown in Figure 1. First, a literature review for CDW recycling, recycling plants description, establishing quality management system for CDW recycling and for the certification systems of C&D recycling facilities was expedited. Second, an accreditation system with main elements and criteria for CDW stations suitable for the Egyptian market was proposed to be used for evaluating and accrediting CDW facilities to ensure standardization of quality in Egypt. Then, the relative importance of each element and criteria is determined using multiple criteria analysis for the assessment by means of experts’ review in the field of construction and demolition wastes. The last step is the development of an accreditation system for CDW facilities with weighted criteria and a classification system for facilities. The evaluation and classification of the CDW facilities is done using developed Microsoft Excel checklist.

Figure 1. Research methodology.

Before demonstrating in detail the main elements in the developed accreditation system, any facility that applies for accreditation should first present the following documents:

1. General information

   • Name of facility and address

   • Ownership of facility

   • Facility type (public/private)

   • Contact person

   • Date opened

   • Permitted capacity (ton/month)

   • Operational size

   • Operating hours/day

   • Number of certified calibrated scales

   • Personnel (number, qualifications, training, etc.)

   • Material type accepted, number of processing lines

   • Material not accepted

2. Site plan

3. Equipment

4. Documentation records for:

   • Input data (type of materials, amount/weight (ton), location, date)

   • Output data (type of materials, use type, amount/weight (ton), receiver, date)

5. Major activities

Developed accreditation system

Following the methodology of RCI Certification of C&D recycling facilities and HBRC accreditation system for ready mix concrete plants, an accreditation system for CDW recycling facilities suitable for the Egyptian market was developed.

The developed accreditation system is divided to six main elements and each element is divided into a number of criteria. For each criterion, the availability and conformity with international standards and the Egyptian code of practice of Recycling of Solid Waste and Reuse in Construction are checked. The following part will discuss in details the main elements and criteria.

Availability of documents

The first part of the developed system for accreditation of facility is to check that there are records for each activity done. Checks should be done for the availability of the following criteria:

• Records for each input load batch showing materials sources, types, weight (ton), location, date

• Records for each output load showing materials type, use type, weight (ton), receiver, date

• Records for treatment process

• Records for applied tests and results on recyclable materials and products (minimum required tests on recyclable materials are sieve analysis, percentage of chlorides, sulfates and organic matters, X-ray tests (XRD, XRF))

• Records for personnel data working in the facility

• Records for equipment data showing types (crusher, loader, etc.), capacity, maintenance records

• Records of calibration results of scales used in the facility and their certificates

• Communication plan showing stakeholders and flow of information

• Monitoring plan showing corrective and preventive actions

• Health, safety and environment plan (HSE)

• Quality assurance and quality control plan (QA/QC).

Facility site plan (operation activities)

The process of recycling CDW includes collection, transportation, sorting, storage, recycling and disposing [7]. The second part covers facility site plan to check that areas allocated to different activities of operation exist as proposed in Figure 2. There should be designated areas for weighting, unloading, separation, storage, transportation routes, treatment, processing, product storage, loading out, landfill and lab.

Figure 2. Operation activities areas.

Lab

The third part is to check the existence of sufficient equipment for testing validity of materials and products and the existence of treatment ponds with temperature control.

Equipment

This part checks that there is a maintenance schedule for all equipments and that they are all in good condition.

Health and safety

This part is to check that the facility follows health and safety precautions first to make sure that it is following environmental laws and final disposal methods rules. It also checks that the facility follows scientific methods of dust and noise control.

Staff

This part checks that the staff qualifications are appropriate, responsibilities are clear and also if they need any training to increase their competence.

Results and discussion

After developing the accreditation system, which is divided to six main elements and each element is divided into a number of criteria, data analysis was conducted using a multiple criteria analysis.

Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) is a decision-making tool used to help in decision-making problems as it integrates the different opinions of stakeholders. It helps in selecting, sorting, prioritizing and in the overall assessment [18,19].

A survey was done to test the importance of the selected elements and criteria. A four-point Likert scale was used to rank the importance level of the elements and criteria, ranging from 1 to 4, where ‘1’ is strongly not important and ‘4’ is strongly important. Twelve experts with experience of more than 10 years in the field of CDW were interviewed and classified as governmental engineers, consultants engineers and academic staff to test the importance of the selected elements and criteria. Using Microsoft Excel, the preliminary statistical analysis was conducted.

Data analysis was conducted using MCA to calculate the following:

1. Initial relative importance index (RII) for the main elements

2. Relative weight of the elements

3. Relative weight of criteria

4. Relative importance of each criteria

Then, a classification for the facilities is proposed, and a Microsoft Excel checklist is used for evaluation and classification.

Elements analysis

The first step is to calculate the relative importance index (RII), which is used to rank the relative importance of the elements according to equation (1)(1) $RII=\frac{W}{A\ast N}=\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^{4}elementfrequency\ast i}{A\ast N}$(1) [20]:

(1) $RII=\frac{W}{A\ast N}=\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^{4}elementfrequency\ast i}{A\ast N}$(1)

where:

W : Total weight of element, i : element weight of each frequency, A : Highest weight, which is equal 4, N : Total number of respondents, which is 12.

Then, the relative weight for each element is calculated and shown in Table 2 according to equation (2):(2) $RelativeWeight=\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^{4}elementfrequency\ast i}{\sum elementsfrequency\ast i}$(2)

(2) $RelativeWeight=\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^{4}elementfrequency\ast i}{\sum elementsfrequency\ast i}$(2)

Table 2. The main elements of the developed accreditation system CDW recycling facilities.

Main elements	Sum of weighted frequency	RII	% of REL W
Availability of documents	45	0.9375	18
Operation activities areas	42	0.875	16.5
Lab existence	42	0.875	16.5
Equipment	48	1	19
Health and safety	36	0.75	14
Staff	41	0.854	16
	254		100

As shown in Table 2, the most important elements are the equipment and the availability of documents while the least important element is health and safety. This is normal and expected as in the recycled facilities, the main aspects that assure quality depend on that everything is documented and can be traced; also, to make sure that the equipment works properly and has a maintenance schedule. The Egyptian culture still does not consider health and safety as they should be; even with the existence of laws and penalties, it still needs enforcement.

Criteria analysis

The next step was to measure the relative weight of every criteria in each element using eq (3)(3) $RelativeWeight=\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^{4}criteriafrequency\ast i}{\sum criteriafrequency\ast i}$(3) :

(3) $RelativeWeight=\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^{4}criteriafrequency\ast i}{\sum criteriafrequency\ast i}$(3)

where:

i : criteria weight of each frequency.

Then, the percentage of importance of every criteria in each element is calculated relative to the element weight calculated in Table 2. Evaluation of CDW recycling facilities according to the developed accreditation system showing the percentage of importance of each criteria is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. The developed accreditation system CDW recycling facilities with the percentage of importance of each criteria.

Main elements	Criteria	Relative weight of criteria	Relative weight of main elements	Percentage of Importance (%)
Availability of documents	Records for :
	Each input load batch showing materials sources, types, weight (ton), location, date	0.09	0.18	1.5%
	Treatment process	0.08		1%
	Test results done on recyclable materials and products	0.10		2%
	Each output load showing type of materials, use type, weight (ton), receiver, date	0.09		1.5%
	Personnel data	0.07		1%
	Equipment data/manual	0.10		2%
	Calibration certificates of scales and calibration records	0.10		2%
	Communication plan	0.08		1%
	Monitoringplan	0.10		2%
	HSE plan	0.10		2%
	QA/QC plan	0.10		2%
				18%
Facility site plan (operation activities)	Area for:
	Scale weighting	0.08	0.165	1%
	Unloading	0.09		1.5%
	Screening/separation	0.10		2%
	Storage	0.08		1%
	Treatment	0.10		2%
	Processing	0.10		2%
	Storage of products taking into account storage conditions for different materials	0.08		1%
	Loading out	0.09		1.5%
	Landfill	0.10		2%
	Transportation routes inside the facility	0.09		1.5%
	Lab	0.08		1%
				16.5%
Lab	Existence of :
	Sufficient equipment for lab tests	0.57	0.165	9.5%
	Treatment ponds with temperature control	0.43		7%
				16.5%
Equipment	Check for:
	Maintenance schedule	1.00	0.19	19%
				19%
Health and safety	Check for:
	Methods of dust/noise control	0.32	0.14	4%
	Final disposal methods	0.34		5%
	Following environment laws and precautions	0.34		5%
				14%
Staff	Check for:
	Qualifications	0.55	0.16	9%
	Training	0.45		7%
				16%

As shown in Table 3, for the first element (availability of documents), the most important criteria are test results data, equipment data, calibration certificates of scales and calibration records, monitoring plan, HSE plan and QA/QC plan while the least important criteria are personal data, communication plan and treatment process records. The results reveal that the most important documents are those that ensure quality of the process and products.

For the second element that covers facility site plan to check that areas allocated to different activities for operation exist as proposed in Figure 2, the results reveal that the most important are areas for separation, treatment, processing and landfill which are logical as they cover the core activities for recycling facilities.

The third element was to check the existence of a lab. The results show that the existence of sufficient equipment is more important than the existence of treatment ponds with temperature control, and it is normal that sufficient equipments for testing materials validity and products must exist to ensure quality.

For the fourth element, the results assure that a maintenance schedule for all equipment must be available and that all equipments must be in good condition.

For health and safety element, the results reveal that it is more important to follow environmental laws and final disposal method rules than to follow the scientific methods of dust and noise control as the Egyptian culture still does not consider human health and safety as they should be.

The last element in the developed accreditation system is the staff. The results reveal that qualifications of the staff are more important than having training for the staff. This is normal because if their qualification is not appropriate and their responsibilities are not clear, work will not be done in a way that assures quality.

Developed classification for facilities

The developed accreditation system also proposed a classification for the facilities. Microsoft Excel is used to easily evaluate and classify the facilities during auditing as shown in Figure 3 according to the following steps:

Figure 3. Microsoft Excel checklist for evaluation and classification of CDW recycling facilities.

• The criteria weight (The percentage of importance) is calculated in the last part and shown in Table 3.

• For each criterion, the auditor should choose whether the degree of application is 0%, 50% or 100%.

• The actual degree of application percentage is calculated by multiplying the percentage of the application by the weight of the criteria.

The total percentage of all criteria is 100 and this classification is composed of four classes (A ,B, C, D) as follows:

• A >75% (best)

• B from 50–75%

• C from 25–50%

• D <25% (worst)

The developed checklist using Microsoft Excel is used for evaluating of C&D waste recycling facilities to be accredited. It is also used to classify the CDW recycling facilities.

The developed accreditation system has some limitations as it depends on a small number of experts and because of this, the startup of execution of recycling facilities in Egypt still did not begin.

Conclusion

The creation of a certification/accreditation system to certify C&D recycling facilities and products is the foundation for a new market for construction in Egypt. The main purpose was to develop an accreditation system for CDW recycling facilities suitable for the Egyptian market to ensure maintaining same level of quality and increase confidence in the C&D waste management process and C&D recycled materials.

The developed accreditation system is divided to six main elements as follows: availability of documents, facility site plan (operation activities), lab, equipments, health and safety and staff. Each element is divided into a number of criteria.

Multiple criteria analysis to test the importance of the selected elements and criteria depending on experts review was conducted. The percentage of importance of each element and criterion is then developed. The most important elements are the equipment and the availability of documents while the least are health and safety. A Microsoft Excel checklist of each criterion is developed to be used to evaluate and classify the facilities into four classes (A, B, C, D) with A as the best and D as the worst.

For future research, the above checklist and percentage of importance will need verification with case studies after the start of execution of recycling facilities in Egypt. It can also be enhanced with more experts’ reviews and comparing them with other countries.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).