Waste in building materials: Comparison of European approaches and recommendations to define a suitable assessment procedure

Summary

European and French policies on waste management and construction encourage the development of the circular economy. However, the national and European regulatory frameworks are still unclear when it comes to assessing the environmental acceptability of construction materials made from waste (or materials derived from waste).
In this context, and in order to encourage the development of practices, the RECORD association has produced a European state of the art on regulations, standards and techniques for the environmental characterisation of alternative materials used in the manufacture of construction materials, and has compared the approaches of the Member States that are interested in this issue. The information is organised in three parts: 1/ Presentation of the issues and the European regulatory context for integrating waste into construction products. 2/ Comparative analysis of current practices and prospects: comparison of practices in the Member States of the European Union. 3/ Summary and recommendations for France in terms of assessing the acceptability of alternative materials in construction.