How much is the amount of construction waste in China?

In my book Toxic Capitalism I looked in detail at all kinds of waste. That
turned out to be really complicated as there are different definitions of the different types of waste (e.g. municipal waste, domestic waste
and more). One number I could not find was the estimate for construction waste in China. In my book I do mention the enormous waste due to
constant renovations or tearing down rather “new” buildings. Well, I finally got a figure:

Source:
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-05/05/content_20621886.htm
In 2013, China saw construction waste reach 1 billion
tons, 26% of it from the process of building and 74% from demolition, according to a 2014 report on resources utilization released by the
National Development and Reform Commission.
Only 5% of construction waste is recycled, which amounts to around 30 million tons annually, the
report said.
The utilization rate of construction trash could reach 95%, as is the case in many developed countries.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *