ABSTRACT
538Conditions for a sustainable process of recycling old concrete to produce new concrete are nearly similar with that claiming for other industrial products. This chapter focuses on specificities of concrete. The first one is the fact that this material is the most widely used in the world. However, the construction industry organization is complex, including many actors. For the success of environmental, economic and societal preservation, a coordination between actors is necessary.
The introduction aims to place the process of recycling of concrete in the general question, how to rebuilt the city on the city.
In the state of the art, the recycling stakeholders’ ecosystem is firstly analyzed, then the decision making about recycling is detailed.
A recall is proposed, presenting the consequences of the use of RA on different characteristics of concrete. Then the preliminary questions are presented: for what type of construction, for what usage, with what specified strength regarding to site conditions, with what level of acceptable risks.
The question of the availability of the resource of RA is discussed in terms of distance to concrete production site, type of products, and quality of resource. Then the legal and political environment is developed: regulations, standard and incentives, in France, Europe and in the world. The links with the global question of the Circular Economy and the short loop are analyzed.
The last paragraph aims to discuss the decision-making frame. What are some questions to address? What are the technical, environmental and economic conditions?
