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Use of concrete in civil engineering — Contribution to the transition to a Circular Economy

Sector: Construction
Description

Use of concrete for new construction, reconstruction or maintenance of civil engineering objects, except concrete, road surfaces.

Scope of Assets

This activity does not include concrete, road surfaces on the following elements: streets, motorways, highways, other vehicular and pedestrian ways, bridges, tunnels and aerodrome runways, taxiways and aprons that are covered under the activity “Maintenance of roads and railways”.

PSIC/ISIC code

4210 - Construction of roads and railways (ISIC 4219)

4220 - Construction of utility projects (ISIC 4220)

4290 - Construction of other civil engineering projects (ISIC 4290)

Technical Screening Criteria

Substantial contribution criteria

The activity complies with all the following criteria:

  1. All generated construction and demolition waste is treated in accordance with National waste legislation1.
    • The preparing for re-use or recycling of the non-hazardous construction and demolition waste generated on the construction site is at least 90% (by mass in kilogrammes), excluding backfilling and naturally occurring material.
  2. The use of primary raw material in the construction of the building is minimized through the use of secondary raw materials.
    • The operator of the activity ensures that for concrete, a maximum of 70% of the material comes from primary raw material.
      1. This criterion applies to in-situ poured concrete, pre-cast products, and all constituent materials, including any reinforcement.
    • The above thresholds are calculated by subtracting the secondary raw material from the total amount of each material category used in the works measured by mass in kilogrammes.
      1. Where the information on the recycled content of a construction product is not available, it is to be counted as comprising 100% primary raw material.
      2. In order to respect the Waste Hierarchy and thereby favour re-use over recycling, re-used construction products, including those containing non-waste materials reprocessed on site, are to be counted as comprising zero primary raw material.
  3. The re-used or recycled materials are not moved over distances greater than 2.5 times the distance between the construction site and the nearest production facility for equivalent primary raw materials
    • This is to avoid that the use of re-used or recycled materials leads to higher CO2 emissions than the use of primary raw materials.
  4. Construction designs and techniques support circularity via the incorporation of concepts for design for adaptability and deconstruction.
  5. Cement that has lower clinker-to-cement ratio through the use of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) is preferred to high carbon intensive cement.
  6. Bridges, tunnels, dikes and sluices are inspected regularly by a nationally approved inspector, and the data is used to predict maintenance needs.
  7. The use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is ensured for all personnel involved in the construction site.
Complementary measures and practices

Any of the eligible complementary measures and practices mentioned below can be applied to support transition to circularity:

  1. The measures implemented to prevent and control potential environmental pollution, including dust control, odor management, noise control, water pollution prevention, Litter control, hazardous material component and fire prevention.
  2. The measures to upgrade the electrical systems with renewable energy sources and energy efficient systems to accommodate the power requirements of the construction site.
  3. The following Internet of Things (IoT) based measures are eligible:
    • Electronic tools to describe the characteristics of the building as built, including the material and components used, for the purpose of future maintenance, recovery and reuse, for example using ISO 22057:2022 to provide Environmental Product Declarations.
    • Developing, using and maintaining information managing systems including those provided by national tools, such as cadastre or public register to store building information in digital format.
    • Data Analytics: Advanced analytics can be used to identify trends, optimize resource allocation, and optimize recovery operations
    • Mobile apps to integrate the waste supply chain by linking construction facilities to waste collectors and potential buyers/sellers of secondary raw materials.
Exclusionary and ineligible practices

The activity does not use destructive methods that do not allow component reuse, high value material recovery or prior salvage of reusable elements.

Do No Significant Harm (DNSH)
Minimum Social Safeguards (MSS)

Notes

  1. 1. Relevant laws and policies in the Philippines: - RA 9003 Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 - DAO 2001-34 Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9003