Construction and demolition waste management in Korea: recycled aggregate and its application

Construction and demolition waste generated in the Republic of Korea accounts for about half of the annual waste. The generation of construction waste is expected to increase gradually due to obsolete structures and reconstructions that have reached the end of their service life. Considering the geographical characteristics of Korea, where the land area is small and about 70% of which is mountainous, landfilling of waste is absolutely limited. Therefore, resource circulation such as recycling of construction waste is an urgent and important task. This paper overviews the current status of construction waste generation, treatment, and the flow of government policies in Korea. Furthermore, the current status, limitations, and stakeholder efforts regarding recycling of recycled aggregate from construction waste were reviewed. Data used in this paper were mostly collected from government reports, construction waste regulations, and research papers. The results show that construction waste management systems have been enacted and revised in line with social needs, and each stakeholder is making an effort to use the construction waste practically. The findings can provide valuable examples for countries that lack construction waste management systems. Graphic abstract