Taipei Exhibition Showcases Materials Recycled From Demolished Buildings
Taiwan's leading recycling and construction firms are showcasing ways of turning construction waste into useful materials.
REPORTER:
A disaster-hit building is demolished. But what happens to all that rubble?
At this exhibition in Taipei, construction and recycling firms are showcasing creative ways of bypassing landfills and putting all that material to new use.
The goal is to reduce waste during both demolition and construction of a building.
After demolition, rebar-reinforced concrete and red bricks make up about 95% of the total weight.
That 95% can be crushed into fine sand, which can then be used as a key material for structural components.
Of course, at this early stage of promotion, the market’s acceptance for using it in structures will still need some time to grow.
Most buildings in Taiwan are made out of concrete, but its usual chain of production leaves a massive environmental footprint. It contaminates rivers, where gravel and sand are freshly mined and processed, and its disposal creates literal tons of waste.
But turning old concrete blocks into raw material reduces production costs, and the final product is more environmentally-friendly and even of superior quality.
Now, a project to rebuild an old government facility is showing how it’s done.
What you’re seeing here is recovered from our former disease prevention center.
The concrete and red bricks were carefully dismantled and sorted.
At present, part of this material has already been reused in our ongoing construction projects and in the future, we hope that 100% can be transformed into construction materials.
These firms hope that recycled concrete will be adopted in more projects in the future, not only to cut waste but to boost structural quality.
With a new construction project in the works, these concrete blocks will be given a second life, laying down the foundation for more green buildings in the future.
Scott Huang and Irene Lin in Taipei for TaiwanPlus.
